Real Madrid is doing badly, very badly. Beaten at home on Sunday evening by Celta Vigo (0-2), the Merengue plunged into crisis to the point that their coach Xabi Alonso seems threatened in the event of another poor performance, this Wednesday evening at Santiago-Bernabeu, against Manchester City, in the Champions League.
In this ambient gloom, Kylian Mbappé, who suffers from a fracture of his left ring finger since this defeat, serves as a rare ray of sunshine. With 26 goals in 24 matches in all competitions, the French striker has had an exceptional start to the season in terms of individual statistics.
And it is in the Champions League, the queen of club competitions, that the former PSG scorer is most effective. With a quadruple in the last match against Olympiakos (3-4) on November 26, the first of his career in C1, Kylian Mbappé has 9 goals in 5 matches, an incredible ratio of 1.8 goals per match.
This total already allows him to erase his personal record of 8 goals in a Champions League season established twice with PSG during the 2020-2021 and 2023-2024 financial years.
But, with three more league phase matches to go (against Manchester City, against Monaco and at Benfica), then the knockout matches that Real (currently 5th in the standings) will undoubtedly play, Mbappé could see higher, bigger.
6th all-time scorer in the Champions League
He has in his sights the record of goals in a European season of a certain Cristiano Ronaldo, his youth idol. The man whose posters covered the walls of his bedroom, as a child, had scored a whopping 17 goals during the 2013-2014 season in the immaculate Real Madrid jersey. The Merengue won the Big Ears Cup that year.
Before going to “tickle” Cristiano Ronaldo’s record, Kylian Mbappé will be able to tackle those of other legends of this game, Lionel Messi, Karim Benzema or Robert Lewandowski.
Ranking of the top scorers over a Champions League season:
- Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid, 2013-2014), 17 buts
- Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid, 2015-2016), 16 buts
- Karim Benzema (Real Madrid, 2021-2022), Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich, 2019-2020) et Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid, 2017-2018), 15 buts
- Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona, 2011-2012), 14 goals
In the meantime, he continues his progression in the scoring rankings in the flagship competition, where he now occupies 6th place, with 64 goals in 92 matches.
Next “targets” in his sights, two other immense figures from Real Madrid, Raul (5th, 71 goals) then Karim Benzema (4th, 90 goals). The top 3, made up of Ronaldo (141 goals), Messi (129) and Lewandowski (105), is still at a respectable distance. But at only 26 years old, and at his pace, Kylian Mbappé could well come and tickle these giants.
