Vinicius Junior overtaken! Real Madrid star drops below Atletico rival in G/A standings after starring role in 3-0 win over Rayo Vallecano

Atletico Madrid returned to winning ways after thrashing Rayo Vallecano 3-0 in a La Liga encounter on Thursday night, with Alexander Sorloth, Conor Gallagher, and Julian Alvarez getting their names on the scoresheet. In the process, the Argentine overtook his Real Madrid rival Vinicius in the goals/assists (G/A) standings for the 2024-25 league campaign.

After his stellar display against Rayo, Alvarez now has more combined goals and assists than Vinicius this season, with his goal tally standing at 15, plus two assists. That's one more than the Brazilian, who has 11 goals and five assists. That puts the ex-Manchester City forward in sixth in the La Liga G/A standings, with Robert Lewandowski out in front with 27. Kylian Mbappe, meanwhile, is in second spot with 25, closely followed by third-placed Raphinha (24).

Alvarez's goal on Thursday was his 15th in La Liga this season - that's the first time the 2022 World Cup winner has scored as many goals in a single league season since moving to Europe in 2022. The most he had scored in the league in Europe was 11 goals with Manchester City in 2023-24.

Indeed, Alvarez has now scored 27 goals in 50 games in all competitions in his debut season for Atletico. That's the highest number that the former River Plate sensation has scored in a single season, three more than the 24 he managed with the Argentine heavyweights in 2021.

Alvarez will next be seen in action when Diego Simeone's side travel to Alaves on Saturday, May 3. Los Rojiblancos are currently third in the Liga table, 10 points behind league leaders Barcelona.