“I dedicated my celebration to Cristiano Ronaldo, my idol” - Vinicius Jr after Real Madrid hattrick against Barcelona

Real Madrid winger Vinicius Junior has dedicated the celebration of his first goal against Barcelona to former Los Blancos forward Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Brazilian winger ran behind Barca's defense in the seventh minute of their Spanish Super Cup clash on Sunday (January 14) after being played in by Jude Bellingham. He calmly rounded goalkeeper Pena before slotting the ball into an empty net to open the scoring on the night.

The Los Blancos winger then celebrated the goal by mimicking Cristiano Ronaldo's famous 'Siu' celebration.

Speaking about it after the match, Vinicius Jr. dedicated it to Ronaldo, hailing the Portuguese forward as his idol. He said (via Madrid Xtra on X):

"I dedicated my celebration to CR7, my idol."

Vinicius went on to score a hat-trick at Riyadh, helping Real Madrid win 4-1 on the night to lift the Supercopa de Espana. Rodrygo scored the fourth goal for Los Blancos while Robert Lewandowski netted the only strike for Barca with a wonderful low volley.

Vinicius Jr.'s idol Cristiano Ronaldo finished 2023 as the top goalscorer across the globe

Once a Real Madrid forward, Cristiano Ronaldo now plays for Saudi Pro League side Al Nassr. He finished 2023 with 54 goals in 59 games for club and country. It also made him the highest goalscorer of the calendar year across the globe.

Ronaldo has previously scripted his name in Real Madrid's history books by registering 450 goals and 131 assists in 438 games for Los Blancos. He also won four Champions League trophy with them, with three of them coming in consecutive years.

Following in on his footsteps, Vinicius Jr. is the new No. 7 for Real Madrid and occupies the same left flank vacated by the former club legend. He has registered 68 goals and as many assists in 241 games for Real Madrid. He has netted nine goals and four assists in 16 games so far this season.