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Vinícius Júnior Reaches 100 Goals with Real Madrid

Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior celebrates after scoring his side's 5th goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Real Madrid and FC Salzburg at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior celebrates after scoring his side's 5th goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Real Madrid and FC Salzburg at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
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Vinícius Júnior Reaches 100 Goals with Real Madrid

Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior celebrates after scoring his side's 5th goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Real Madrid and FC Salzburg at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior celebrates after scoring his side's 5th goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Real Madrid and FC Salzburg at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Vinícius Júnior 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.
Vinícius 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 Kaká second on 30.
Madrid said Vinícius 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," Vinícius 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 Vinícius, 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,” The Associated Press quoted Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti as saying. “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 Mbappé added another goal after a blunder by Salzburg goalkeeper Janis Blaswich.
Rodrygo has scored five goals in his last four matches, while Vinícius has three in his last two games. Mbappé also has five goals in his last four matches.
Jude Bellingham set up one of Vinícius' goals with a neat back-heel flick. The England player left the match in the 64th minute with a back issue but Ancelotti downplayed the injury.
Madrid next visits French club Brest.

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Hamilton: Driving a Ferrari F1 Car for 1st Time Was 'Exciting and Special'

Formula One F1 - Lewis Hamilton drives a Ferrari F1 car around the Fiorano circuit as part of the TPC tests - Fiorano Circuit, Fiorano Modenese near Maranello, Italy - January 22, 2025 Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton during testing REUTERS/Jennifer Lorenzini
Formula One F1 - Lewis Hamilton drives a Ferrari F1 car around the Fiorano circuit as part of the TPC tests - Fiorano Circuit, Fiorano Modenese near Maranello, Italy - January 22, 2025 Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton during testing REUTERS/Jennifer Lorenzini
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Hamilton: Driving a Ferrari F1 Car for 1st Time Was 'Exciting and Special'

Formula One F1 - Lewis Hamilton drives a Ferrari F1 car around the Fiorano circuit as part of the TPC tests - Fiorano Circuit, Fiorano Modenese near Maranello, Italy - January 22, 2025 Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton during testing REUTERS/Jennifer Lorenzini
Formula One F1 - Lewis Hamilton drives a Ferrari F1 car around the Fiorano circuit as part of the TPC tests - Fiorano Circuit, Fiorano Modenese near Maranello, Italy - January 22, 2025 Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton during testing REUTERS/Jennifer Lorenzini

Lewis Hamilton drove a Ferrari Formula 1 car for the first time Wednesday and described it as "one of the best feelings of my life.”
Hamilton was behind the wheel of a 2023-specification Ferrari SF-23 bearing his racing number, 44, at the team’s Fiorano test track and wore a new helmet design in yellow with a prominent Prancing Horse logo.
The 40-year-old British driver set out for his first lap at 9:16 a.m. local time in light fog and twice waved to a crowd of around 1,000 spectators, who had gathered on a nearby bridge despite the cold and wet weather, The Associated Press reported.
“When I started the car up and drove through that garage door, I had the biggest smile on my face,” Hamilton said of his first drive in a Ferrari since joining the Italian team for the 2025 season. “It reminded me of the very first time I tested a Formula 1 car, it was such an exciting and special moment, and here I am, almost 20 years later, feeling those emotions all over again.”
Part-way through the day, Hamilton headed over to fans who had waited for hours in the wet conditions since early morning for a glimpse of him behind the wheel. Wearing a jacket in Ferrari red, he waved, gave a thumbs-up gesture and put a hand to his heart. Hamilton's mother was among his family members on hand for the occasion.
“I've been lucky enough to have many firsts in my career, from the first test to the first race, podium, win and championship, so I wasn’t sure how many more firsts I had but driving a Scuderia Ferrari HP car for the first time this morning, was one of the best feelings of my life,” Hamilton said.
Hamilton has shaken up F1 with his move to Ferrari after 12 years with Mercedes, where he won six of his seven world titles.
There was excitement Wednesday from one of Italy's biggest sports stars, too.
After reaching the semifinals at the Australian Open, top-ranked tennis player Jannik Sinner was asked by an Italian reporter if he had seen anything on social media about Hamilton’s Ferrari debut.
“It’s still pretty strange to see him in red,” Sinner said, “but it’ll be a great season.”
Hamilton, who arrived Monday at Ferrari’s Maranello headquarters for his first day at work with the new team, has said he's fulfilling a childhood dream.
“I already knew from the outside how passionate the Ferrari family is, from everyone in the team to the tifosi (fans),” he said. “But to now witness it firsthand as a Ferrari driver has been awe-inspiring. That passion runs through their veins and you can’t help but be energized by it.”
F1 tightly restricts teams from testing current-specification cars but the rules are more loose for older cars like the SF-23 that Hamilton drove Wednesday. The F1 regulations for 2025 allow Hamilton to drive up to 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) over four days in older F1 cars under the “testing of previous cars” rule. The SF-23 is the most recent Ferrari that's eligible.
Pre-season testing for the new season's cars is from Feb. 26 through 28 in Bahrain.