MADRID: French superstar Kylian Mbappe is close to making history at Real Madrid like his idol Cristiano Ronaldo, said his coach Xabi Alonso on Saturday.
After finishing last season in top form and starting the current campaign superbly, Mbappe has netted 55 goals with Real Madrid in 2025 and is just four away from matching the record set in 2013 by Ronaldo of 59, as the club’s top scorer in a calendar year.
Mbappe has been increasingly compared to all-time top Madrid goalscorer Ronaldo by the Spanish press for his growing influence and ability to rack up goals.
“Kylian is on his way to making history at Real Madrid like Cristiano did. Not just because of the importance he has in the team, but also because of the ambition he conveys and the number of goals he scores,” Alonso told a news conference.
“Kylian is one of the chosen ones. He has this desire within him not just to do things well, but also to have a positive influence on others. This is something he shares with Cristiano — this contagious ambition that inspires the rest of the team.”
Winning the European Golden Shoe and La Liga’s top scorer award last season with 31 goals, Mbappe is currently operating at an even higher level, with 16 goals scored in 15 matches played, and nine in five Champions League games.
As a child Mbappe admitted he had posters of Ronaldo on his bedroom walls and he can take a step closer to Ronaldo’s record when Celta Vigo visit the Bernabeu on Sunday in La Liga.
Real Madrid face Erling Haaland’s Manchester City in the Champions League on December 10 before league games against Alaves and Sevilla, giving Mbappe four matches to catch Ronaldo.
Portugal international Ronaldo scored 450 goals in 438 matches for Real Madrid, with Mbappe currently on 69 goals in 79 games since joining from Paris Saint-Germain in 2024.
’Chosen’ Mbappe on way to making Real Madrid history like Ronaldo: Alonso
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’Chosen’ Mbappe on way to making Real Madrid history like Ronaldo: Alonso
- Mbappe has been increasingly compared to all-time top Madrid goalscorer Ronaldo by the Spanish press
- “Kylian is on his way to making history at Real Madrid like Cristiano did,” Alonso told a news conference
Vinicius hits winner as Real Madrid eliminate Benfica after racism row
- Benfica gave the record 15-time champions a rough ride but fittingly Vinicius, who never hides from the spotlight, scored on 80 minutes to effectively end the contest
MADRID: Vinicius Junior scored the winner on the night as Real Madrid beat Benfica 2-1 in the Champions League on Wednesday, progressing 3-1 on aggregate to the last 16.
It was the Brazilian forward’s superb goal which separated the teams in a first leg marred by an incident of alleged racial abuse aimed at him by Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni, who denies it.
Jose Mourinho’s side were still alive in the play-off round tie and took the lead early on at the Santiago Bernabeu through Rafa Silva, although Madrid’s Aurelien Tchouameni swiftly levelled.
Benfica gave the record 15-time champions a rough ride but fittingly Vinicius, who never hides from the spotlight, scored on 80 minutes to effectively end the contest.
It was Portuguese coach Mourinho’s first time back at the Santiago Bernabeu since he coached Real Madrid from 2010-2013, but he could not lead his team from the dug-out because of suspension.
After a week dominated by the fall-out from the first leg, Vinicius lined up for Real Madrid alongside Gonzalo Garcia, who stepped in for injured French superstar Kylian Mbappe.
Benfica were without banned midfielder Prestianni, after an appeal against his provisional one-game sanction was turned down earlier on Wednesday, with UEFA still investigating the incident.
Madrid hung a large banner reading “no to racism” at one end, with the game played under the shadow of what happened last week in Lisbon.
There were boos for Vinicius from the visiting Benfica fans and he prodded wide in the early stages, appealing in vain for a penalty as Nicolas Otamendi collided with him after he got his shot away.
Benfica took a deserved lead in the 14th minute as Madrid defender Raul Asencio clumsily turned the ball toward his own goal.
Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois kept the ball out but Silva was on hand to bundle home from close range.
Stung into action, Madrid pulled level two minutes later through Tchouameni. The French midfielder finished with aplomb from the edge of the box from rampaging team-mate Federico Valverde’s cross.
Madrid thought they had gone ahead on the night when Arda Guler stabbed home a loose ball after Garcia’s shot was blocked, but the Spanish striker had edged offside and it was disallowed after a VAR review.
Vinicius settles it
Courtois made a fine save from Richard Rios before the break, as Benfica turned up the pressure.
Silva hit the bar with a deflected effort before the hour mark as Mourinho’s side at times pinned back the hosts.
Madrid were dealt a set-back as Asencio was forced off on a stretcher after colliding with Eduardo Camavinga.
It had to be Vinicius who settled the tie, though, and Valverde played him scuttling through on goal, with the Brazilian calmly rolling a low shot past goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin.
Vinicius produced another celebratory dance by the corner flag, as he had done in the first leg in the run-up to the flashpoint with Prestianni, and to the chagrin of Mourinho.
This time, the 25-year-old just had thousands of jubilant fans jumping up and down before him, and his goal confirmed Madrid’s passage to the last 16.
