[1][2][3][4][5] Vilana made his Liga I debut on 10 September 2006 when coach Costel Orac sent him on the field in order to replace Alexandru Pojer in the 85th minute of a 2–0 home win over Național București.

[1][6] Ricardo helped the club win the 2008–09 Liga I edition, under the coaching of Dan Petrescu who used him 20 games in which he scored once in a 2–0 away victory against Politehnica Iași.

[1][2][3][4][7][9] In August 2010 he signed a contract with Steaua București alongside teammates from Unirea Urziceni: Galamaz, Marinescu, Apostol, Bilașco, Onofraș and Brandán.

[11] Afterwards he started to play for the first team, including making five appearances in the 2010–11 Europa League group stage against Liverpool, Napoli and Utrecht, failing to qualify further as they finished third.

[1][7][12] Also by the end of the season the team won the Cupa României, but he did not get to play in the final as he and fellow Brazilian Éder Bonfim terminated their contracts on mutual agreement with the club on 4 May 2011.