Kylian Mbappe matches Cristiano Ronaldo debut season record after match-winning display for Real Madrid in 3-2 win over Leganes

By Deepungsu Pandit

Modified Mar 30, 2025 01:45 GMT

Kylian Mbappe has matched Cristiano Ronaldo's debut season record for Real Madrid after scoring a brace in club's 3-2 win over Leganes in the league on Saturday (March 29). The Frenchman sent Los Blancos ahead in the 32nd minute from the spot after Arda Guler was brought down in the box.

However, the away side responded immediately, equalizing through Diego Garcia in the next minute. Leganes then went ahead in the game four minutes before the break, courtesy of Dani Raba.

Real Madrid stepped up in the second half, with Jude Bellingham restoring parity in the 47th minute. Mbappe scored his 33rd goal of the season from a smart free-kick in the 76th minute to seal all three points.

It was the first free-kick goal of the Frenchman's career, bringing him level with Cristiano Ronaldo's debut season with Los Blancos. The Portuguese superstar arrived at the Santiago Bernabeu from Manchester United in 2009 and scored 33 times in his debut campaign.

Kylian Mbappe, meanwhile, arrived in a Bosman deal last summer from Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and had a slow start to life with the LaLiga champions. However, the 26-year-old has picked up the pace in recent months and has been indispensable for Real Madrid.

The French superstar now needs just four more goals to match Ivan Zamorano's record of 37 in the 1992-93 campaign, which is the best debut season in the club's history.

Can Mbappe break Cristiano Ronaldo's goalscoring record at Real Madrid?

Kylian Mbappe will have to be at his scintillating best if he wishes to break Cristiano Ronaldo's goalscoring record with Real Madrid. The Portuguese superstar scored 61 times in the 2014-15 season for Los Blancos.

Ronaldo finished his nine-year tenure with the LaLiga giants with 450 goals from 438 games. He is the club's record goalscorer.

Speaking after the game, as cited by GOAL, the former PSG superstar said he was delighted to match Cristiano Ronaldo's debut-season record.

"Very special. I'm sure the most important thing is the things you do with the team, but scoring the same number of goals as Cristiano is always good. We know what he means to Real Madrid and to me. He gives me a lot of advice; he's scored a lot of goals, but we have to win titles here," Mbappe said.

The French superstar registered 256 goals and 98 assists from 308 games across competitions for the Parisians in his career.

About the author

Deepungsu is a veteran football journalist who has been covering daily transfer roundups and news for over six years at Sportskeeda. He has written over 8500 articles for the website, and has garnered over 19.5Million reads.

Deepungsu holds a PG degree in Microbiology and an MBA degree in Total Quality Management. He has an extensive two-decade long writing experience, which includes a decade of sports blogging. His writing prowess has even led his work getting cited on the legendary Franz Beckenbauer's Wikipedia page.

Inspired by Diego Maradona, Deepungsu played as an attacking midfielder for his local club at subdivision level in his initial years and scored an important goal or two. However, his all-time favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and evidently, he feels Argentina's glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment for fulfilling his long-standing dream. He is also an ardent East Bengal fan.

Deepungsu has been a Manchester United supporter since the year 2000. Unsurprisingly, his favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson and the Scotsman helped him get through some of the toughest days of his life. Like the fiery Scot, Deepungsu also leaves no stone unturned when it comes to accuracy in articles and only relies on credible sources.

Despite believing in Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland to create an iconic rivalry, Deepungsu reckons no one can match the longevity of Messi and Ronaldo. He spends his leisure time writing about life on his blog, reading books, and playing the guitar.

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Edited by Parag Jain