Vinicius reaches 100 as club advances in Champions League

MADRID — Vinicius Jr reached 100 goals with Real Madrid in the team's 5-1 victory over Salzburg on Wednesday to secure a playoff spot after a slow start in the Champions League.

Vinicius scored his 99th and 100th goals, according to UEFA, moving him into third place in the top Brazilian scorers in the Champions League with 28 goals in the competition. Neymar leads the way with 43, with Kaka second on 30.

Madrid said Vinicius has 101 goals for the club, with Spanish media saying the discrepancy dates back to a Spanish league goal that many considered an own goal and should not count for the Brazil forward.

"Sometimes it's pure instinct, sometimes there's a little more time so I can take a glance and see things which help, like where the goalkeeper is," Vinicius said. "Goals are making me a better player. Early on here (at Real Madrid), I didn't score so many, but now I might play the odd bad game but still score twice, and that's a good habit to have."

Madrid, the defending champion and record 15-time European champion, had lost three of its first six matches in the new format of the Champions League and was at risk of elimination.

"I truly think that tonight we produced pretty much the complete performance, because we also turned it on in the first half," said Vinicius, who was named the man of the match. "But we really need to keep seeking our absolute best form so that we can keep on scoring goals and defending better as a team."

The victory moved Madrid to 16th place in the 36-team league phase of the competition.

"We have some things to fix but we have good momentum," Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said. "The goal tonight was to win and play well. We started a bit soft but were able to improve."

Rodrygo also scored twice for Madrid, and Kylian Mbappe added another goal after a blunder by Salzburg goalkeeper Janis Blaswich.

Rodrygo has scored five goals in his last four matches, while Vinicius has three in his last two games. Mbappe also has five goals in his last four matches.

Jude Bellingham set up one of Vinicius' goals with a neat backheel flick. The England player left the match in the 64th minute with a back issue but Ancelotti downplayed the injury.

Ancelotti heaped praise on his shining forwards.

"We have fulfilled our objective. Winning and trying to play a good game. A bit soft in the beginning, but then we fixed that and played really well," Ancelotti told Movistar Plus.

"Obviously, there is no doubt about the quality of our players up front. We are trying to fix the rest. Because the efficiency we have up top is unbelievable. We have to fix the other issues we have at the back.

"Sometimes we do well and sometimes we do less well, but we're on a good run. I'm not angry about conceding a goal, we did well at the back today.

" (Antonio) Rudiger was very good today, (David) Alaba is finally back, (Raul) Asencio is good... It's a collective problem we have. That's the key this year. If we can have collective commitment we will be successful and we will be able to take full advantage of the quality we have up front."

Madrid next visits French club Brest.

Real Madrid has secured qualification for at least the playoffs, but would need to win its last game at Brest and rely on other results going its way to finish in the top eight.

"You never know what could happen... Only one thing is clear: we have to win the last game and that's nothing new at this club. We have to win all the games if you are at Real Madrid," Ancelotti said.

Agencies