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Real Madrid star Kylian Mbappe surpassed Cristiano Ronaldo's tally from his debut season with a 34th strike in the Copa del Rey final against Barcelona on Saturday, April 26. However, Los Blancos still ended up on the losing side as the Catalan side defeated them 3-2.
The Frenchman, who joined from Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) last summer, has been on fire for the Whites, enjoying a prolific debut campaign that is now statistically better than even that of Ronaldo.
The Portuguese scored 33 goals in the 2009-10 season following his world-record transfer from Manchester United. Meanwhile Mbappe has 34, including his fabulous strike from a free-kick against the Catalans last night.
The 26-year-old came off the bench and added plenty of attacking momentum into Real Madrid's play. He brought them level with a clinical free-kick in the 70th minute that made it 1-1 for his side, before Aurelien Tchouameni gave them the lead, seven minutes later.
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Much to their chagrin, however, Ferran Torres equalized for Barcelona with only six minutes of normal time remaining before Jules Kounde won it for them in extra-time.
It was a sombre ending to an amazing night for Mbappe, who missed another chance to win a second trophy with his side. Nonetheless, his goalscoring exploits continued, and the World Cup winner now stands on the cusp of history.
Mbappe needs just four more goals to surpass Ivan Zamorano's record of having scored the most number of goals in debut season for Real Madrid. The Chilean legend netted 37 times in the 1992-93 season after joining Madrid, a feat that's been unmatched ever since.
Ronaldo came agonizingly close, but fell short. Mbappe will now be eyeing to pull off what even his idol couldn't, as Real Madrid five more games left into the campaign.
They play Celta Vigo in LaLiga on Sunday, May 4.
Mbappe continues to terrorize Barcelona
Kylian Mbappe just loves scoring against Barcelona. In his career, the French forward has played them seven times and netted eight goals, making them one of his favorite teams.
He famously struck a hat-trick against the Catalans in the Champions League back in 2021 with PSG, which also was his first ever match against the side. Since then, he hasn't looked back.
After joining Real Madrid too, Mbappe has continued his streak: he scored against Barcelona in the Spanish Supercup finals back in January, and now in the Copa Del Rey finals too. But on both these occasions, he ended up on the losing side.
