Vini Jr takes penalty duties in Mbappé's absence with clinical double
The Brazilian stepped up from the spot twice against Real Sociedad, continuing to build Madrid's formidable attacking partnership while Barcelona's quartet closes in.
With Mbappé watching from the sidelines, Vinicius Junior grabbed the spotlight by converting two penalties he won himself as Real Madrid thrashed Real Sociedad.
Deadly duo still leading La Liga’s scoring charts
The Brazilian’s brace keeps Madrid’s attacking partnership at the summit of La Liga’s goalscoring charts. Between them, Vini and Mbappé have netted 31 goals this campaign - with the Frenchman contributing a whopping 23 compared to Vinicius’ 8.
It’s proper tasty watching these two link up this season. When one’s absent, the other steps up - that’s what you call squad depth that’d make most managers go weak at the knees!
Rare penalty double
Vinicius’ spot-kick brace marks only the third time this season a player has scored twice from the penalty spot in a single La Liga match. The previous two instances both came from Girona players:
- Cristhian Stuani against Oviedo (Matchday 10)
- Artem Dovbyk against Espanyol (Matchday 20)
Barcelona’s fantastic four closing in
While Madrid’s dynamic duo leads the way, Barcelona’s attacking quartet isn’t far behind. The Catalan club, in action today, boasts an impressive spread of goalscorers with:
- Ferran Torres
- Robert Lewandowski
- Lamine Yamal
- Raphinha
Between them, these four have bagged a remarkable 40 goals - more than any team in La Liga except Real Madrid and Villarreal. That’s not too shabby at all!
With Vini stepping up when needed and Barcelona’s attack firing on all cylinders, the battle for La Liga’s top scorers is turning into a proper Bobby Dazzler of a contest.