Who are Real Madrid’s top goalscorers so far this season?
While Karim Benzema and Vinícius Júnior accounted for most of Real Madrid’s goals last season, this term Los Blancos are sharing out the scoring duties.
At Real Madrid, the way goals are shared out among the players has changed. Last season, Karim Benzema and Vinícius Júnior pretty much took care of all Los Blancos’ scoring needs - the pair netted 66 times between them - but in 2022/23, the goals have been distributed far more evenly across the side. Owing to a range of injury issues, star striker Benzema has already missed as many as nine games in all competitions this term, but his team-mates have showcased the depth of Carlo Ancelotti’s squad by picking up the slack.
Valverde and Rodrygo step up scoring rate
Indeed, Madrid have managed one more goal this season than at the same stage of 2021/22: a total of 50 in 21 matches. Three men in particular have made sure Los Merengues’ strike rate hasn’t dropped off despite Benzema’s regular absences. Vinícius has 10 goals, and is closely followed by Federico Valverde on eight and Rodrygo Goes on seven. Benzema is just behind them, with six.
After 21 games last season, Benzema and Vinícius had hit 29 of Madrid’s 49 goals - 59%. The Frenchman had 17 to his name; the Brazilian, 12. The team’s next-highest scorer was Marco Asensio, with four. And this goalscoring pattern remained one of the defining characteristics of a campaign that saw Madrid lift the LaLiga and Champions League titles: their attacking play largely flowed towards one of Benzema or Vinícius. This season, on the other hand, 31 of Madrid’s 50 goals so far - 62% - have been scored by four different players.
Real Madrid’s goal tally after 21 games: 2021/22 and 2022/23:
| This season | Last season |
|---|---|
| Vinicius (10) | Benzema (17) |
| Valverde (8) | Vinícius (12) |
| Rodrygo (7) | Asensio (4) |
| Benzema (6) | Nacho (2) |
| Modric (5) | Alaba (2) |
| Militão (3) | Rodrygo (2) |
| Asensio (3) | Kroos (2) |
| Alaba (2) | Jovic (1) |
| Rüdiger (2) | Camavinga (1) |
| Lucas Vázquez (2) | Mandy (1) |
| Kroos (1) | Carvajal (1) |
| Hazard (1) | Bale (1) |
| Lucas Vázquez (1) | |
| Isco (1) | |
| Own goal (1) | |
| TOTAL: 50 | TOTAL: 49 |
Modric, Militão, Asensio...
What’s more, just behind the quartet of Benzema, Vinícius, Valverde and Rodrygo, there are a good few players who are chipping in with an eminently respectable quantity of goals. Luka Modric is Madrid’s fifth-top scorer with five - having managed only three in the whole of last season - and Éder Militão and Asensio have three each. The latter has also chalked up three assists, meaning that he has registered a goal involvement every 71 minutes. Only his lack of regular starts has prevented him from adding to these figures. Something similar happened last season: despite frequently being left out of the line-up, Asensio finished up with 12 goals and was third in the side’s goal charts. As he bids to earn an attractive new deal at Madrid or a lucrative move elsewhere, the Spaniard has kept his tally ticking over.