The Brazilian forward has found the form of his life in the Spanish capital, and has formed a deadly duo with the current Ballon d'Or favourite
Rodrygo will insist that he is being used out of position. The in-form Brazilian, who has bagged 10 in all competitions this season and is well on his way to eclipsing previous career goalscoring highs, believes he is not a striker.
He is, in fact, very specific about where he functions most effectively. To get the best out of Rodrygo, you are, according to him, supposed to play him as a No.10 in a 4-2-3-1 system:
"In this one, with the 4-2-3-1 and behind Karim [Benzema], it is the position that I like the most and everyone knows this. I always talk about it with the coach," he told GOAL in February.
For all of his specificities, though, something is clearly working for Rodrygo. Currently operating as a right-sided attacker, the Brazilian, now 22, is in the form of his life. He endured a difficult start to the 2023-24 campaign, but has since found the spark that made him such a highly-rated talent. With eight goals over the last two months, there are very few players in Europe in better form than him.
And that's all very convenient for a Madrid team in a precarious spot. Although Los Blancos are second in La Liga, a series of muscle injuries sustained by Vinicius Jr, and the lack of depth behind him, seemed to have left the virtuosic Jude Bellingham to do it alone. But Rodrygo has shown he has other ideas. And the two, in tandem, have become one of the deadliest duos in Europe — good enough to keep Madrid well in the title race over the coming months.
GettyAlways improving
In January 2023, Rodrygo's Madrid future looked murky. The Brazilian had lost his place in the starting XI, with the more dynamic Federico Valverde preferred in his right-wing spot. Rumours soon circled about a fractious relationship with Carlo Ancelotti, talk that wasn't helped by an incident in which Rodrygo refused to shake his manager's hand after being substituted in the second half of a Copa del Rey clash with Villarreal. Ancelotti, ever the sarcastic pacificist, suggested that Rodrygo must have simply "forgot" to undergo the most fundamental of tasks for any substituted player.
But what followed was a scintillating run of form. Rodrygo found the net eight times across the final two months of the season. He showed up in the big games, too. It was his brace that lifted Madrid past Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the Champions League. Another two-goal performance saw off Osasuna in the Copa del Rey final.
By the end of the campaign, with Vinicius unavailable and Karim Benzema struggling to stay fit, Rodrygo established himself as Ancelotti's main man. The Brazilian had long insisted that he wasn't a natural winger, and preferred to play in a more central area. A series of showings there suggested that he might be right. When Benzema announced his departure, Kylian Mbappe appeared to be his natural successor. Rodrygo, though, had done enough to prove that he could be the logical solution.
AdvertisementA poor start to the season
But it didn't quite work out that way. Bellingham was brought in over the summer, and took the false nine position Rodrygo has publically coveted for six months. As a result, the Brazilian was pushed further up the pitch, now deployed as one half of split strikers, asked to play as a right-sided forward, but with less freedom to roam. And there were perhaps always going to be growing pains. Bellingham may have been the focal point, but he, too, was also learning a new position. With so much shifting around, Rodrygo's slow start wasn't necessarily a surprise.
But it wasn't supposed to be that bad. After scoring in Real's La Liga opener, Rodrygo went over two months without finding the net for Los Blancos. Sometimes, he was deferring to Bellingham, but others, he was simply squandering chances. He took nine shots against Getafe, and put just one on target. Two weeks later, he missed two clear opportunities against Union Berlin.
It was of little surprise, then, that he was benched for Joselu against early-season surprise Girona — a game Madrid went on to comfortably win, 3-0. Hope remained among this all, though. Although he was misfiring for his club, Rodrygo's Brazil form offered promise. He bagged two against Bolivia in early September, and turned in strong showings against both Peru and Venezuela.
Getty ImagesHitting top form
The uptick in form was always likely to come — if only due to mathematical probability. Put more simply, one of Rodrygo's shots was going to hit the net. His second goal of the season, against Braga on October 24, was a slightly fortunate one, the Brazilian reacting a split-second late to a Vinicius cross, before seeing his effort deflect off a defender and in.
And the goals haven't really dried up since. After a disappointing Clasico and bench role against Rayo Vallecano, Rodrygo has seized his moment. Vinicius has once again picked up a muscle injury, and with Joselu looking more like the lumbering striker that couldn't cut it at Stoke, Rodrygo has starred. Bellingham is still the main man here — he is averaging a goal or assist every 80 minutes in La Liga alone. But Rodrygo has filled the gaps, and become the ideal running mate. He has scored eight and assisted five since the end of October, highlighted by a two-goal, two-assist showing in a 5-1 romp against Valencia.
Add a crucial goal against Napoli and winning effort to see off a dogged Granada side, and you have a player in fine form.
Finally living up to the hype?
It's easy to forget, amid all of this, that Rodrygo is still just 22. Like many Brazilian teenagers who make waves in their home country, he generated buzz early, and was burdened with too much pressure at too young of an age. He sealed a deal to move to La Liga in 2018, and eventually joined Madrid in 2019, then barely 18 years old.
The fee, €45 million (£39m/$52m), was the highest ever for a South American player at the time (a figure Madrid eclipsed 12 months ago with the signing of Endrick.) The narrative was too good. Here was a silky creative player, from the same club as Neymar, ready to become the next great Brazilian talent in Spain. Was he the new Neymar? Perhaps not. But Barcelona had signed the original one. After all, why shouldn't Madrid have one of their own?
And, like with Vinicius and many other Brazilian starlets to get European moves, Rodrygo endured a mixed beginning to his Madrid career. A look at the numbers suggests a player steadily finding his feet. He scored twice in his debut campaign, but made just 12 starts in La Liga as Real cruised to the title. After that, though, things picked up. He assisted six the following season, and bagged the winning goal against Inter in a Champions League group stage fixture.
He broke out for good in 2021, playing a pivotal role in Madrid's Champions League run with a brace against Manchester City to propel Los Blancos into the final — which they would eventually win.
Still, for all of the goals, assists, and YouTube-ready highlights, there remained a sense that Rodrygo hadn't quite reached his best.