Vinicius scored the only goal in Real Madrid’s 1-0 win at Sevilla on Sunday, a strike that took him to 128 goals for the club and moved him past Fernando Hierro on the all-time list.
The number matters: with that finish Vinicius climbed to 13th place on Real Madrid’s top scorers chart, overtaking Hierro, who scored 127 goals in 601 games for the club. The single-goal victory at the Sánchez Pizjuán was another marker in a season in which Vinicius has been directly involved in 33 goals — 22 scored and 11 assists across all competitions.
Those season totals mirror numbers he hit before. Vinicius matched the 22-goal tallies he posted in 2021-22 and 2024-25 and sits behind his best return, set in 2023-24, when he scored 24 and provided nine assists. If he can produce a hat-trick on the final day against Athletic, he would set a new personal best and draw level with Míchel at 131 goals, moving into 12th place on the club chart.
The move past Hierro is part of a larger run of form under Álvaro Arbeloa, who took charge on January 12. Since Arbeloa’s appointment, Vinicius has scored 16 goals in 26 games across all competitions — a rate of roughly 0.6 goals per game, and a clear improvement from earlier in the season. He has started 24 of Arbeloa’s 26 matches, completed 21 of them and missed only the game at Mestalla because of suspension.
Arbeloa has been explicit about what he sees in Vinicius. He called him a born leader and the teammate everyone wants, praising his commitment and saying the forward “carried the team when he was still a kid” and “has given us two Champions Leagues.” Arbeloa also noted that playing in Seville is always exciting for its atmosphere and that it pains him when the team fails to win because so many people’s hopes rest on their shoulders.
Vinicius himself framed the achievement in workmanlike terms, saying he thinks work is what takes you to the top and that he has worked every year to reach these numbers. The goal at the Sánchez Pizjuán also puts him in an exclusive group of Madrid players who have scored 20 or more goals in five consecutive seasons or more — a roll call that includes Manuel Fernández Pahíño, Alfredo Di Stéfano, Ferenc Puskas, Hugo Sánchez, Raúl, Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Vinicius.
The tension in the story is simple and immediate: despite the personal milestones and the scoring run under Arbeloa, Vinicius has repeatedly matched, not exceeded, certain seasonal totals. He has reached 22 goals this term — the same as two previous campaigns — and still trails his best season by two strikes. That gap turns the final match into more than a routine fixture; it is a deadline for an individual milestone that would also shift the club’s historical order.
What happens next is plain and consequential. Vinicius heads into the final day needing three goals to surpass his best season and to draw level with Míchel at 131 goals. The game against Athletic offers that chance, and it will define whether Sunday’s landmark at the Sánchez Pizjuán is a capstone or a stepping stone. Meanwhile, attention in world football briefly swings elsewhere too, as fans follow a Saudi title decider where Ronaldo faces Benzema — coverage available at Al-nassr Vs Al-hilal: Ronaldo faces Benzema in a Riyadh title decider.
For now, Vinicius has done what he has always insisted comes first: he has worked. He has grown into the kind of leader Arbeloa describes, and he leaves the season’s last match not only seeking goals but staking a claim to a place among Real Madrid’s great scorers.
