Kylian Mbappe have once again made history by matching Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo‘s goalscoring landmark in their first season after bagging a brace against Real Sociedad on Saturday.
The Real Madrid forward follows in Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s footsteps by hitting an impressive landmark with his latest brace.
Madrid beat Sociedad 2-0 in the final fixture of the La Liga season. In a game that almost looked like a farewell game for both departing manager Carlo Ancelotti and the “magical midfielder” Luka Modric, it was the Mbappe who rather stole the show.
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With fans filling almost every seat at the Santiago Bernabeu to say “thank you” to the pair for their service to the club, Mbappe latched onto a rebound in the 38th minute after missing the initial penalty kick to break the deadlock.
The French international later doubled his tally on the afternoon to bring the scoreline to 2-0, seven minutes before full time to ensure they walked away with a befitting, farewell for Ancelotti and Modric.
The goals cemented his historical prowess as the first-ever Real Madrid player to score 30-plus goals in their debut season in LaLiga.
Mbappe’s brace on Saturday made him the first player since Messi to score at least 30 goals in a single La Liga season. The 26-year-old forward also became the first Real Madrid player to achieve this feat since Ronaldo in the 2014-15 campaign, underlining his swift adaptation to the Spanish game.
The Madrid forward now leads Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski, who has netted 25 times this season, in the race for the prestigious Pichichi Trophy — awarded to La Liga’s top scorer.
Mbappe also edged past Sporting Lisbon forward Viktor Gyokeres in the European Golden Shoe race, moving to 31 league goals for the campaign.
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Gyokeres has 58.5 points while the Real Madrid star finished with 62. Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah may need to score four times against Crystal Palace on the final day of the Premier League campaign to topple Mbappe off the top to snatch the honour.
Mbappe’s impressive 31-goal feat places him in the highest echelon of the game in Spain, significantly doing so after a very patchy start to life in Spain.
He is now only the fourth player in La Liga history to reach or exceed the 30-goal mark in his debut season. He joins Pruden (33 goals in 1940/41), Romário (30 goals in 1993/94), and Ronaldo Nazário (34 goals in 1996/97).
Los Blancos are set to compete in the Club World Cup in the United States next month, after being placed in Group H alongside Al-Hilal, Mexico’s Pachuca, and Austrian champions RB Salzburg.
The competition will be another stage for Mbappe to show his mettle on a global stage and add more silverware to his growing list of achievements.
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