Kylian Mbappe scored an important goal to help his team win 2-1 against Mallorca for LaLiga’s Matchday 36 and maintain Real Madrid’s title hopes alive. At least, until Barcelona face Espanyol on Thursday, when they can clinch the trophy. However, with title or not title, the French star has already made history for Los Blancos, even surpassing Cristiano Ronaldo’s milestone in his first season.
According to ESPN, Mbappe is the first player to hit that mark of 40 goals in his debut campaign with Los Blancos. Meanwhile, Ronaldo scored a total of 33 goals in his first year with Real Madrid, in which he ended trophyless.
Mbappe’s goals have been distributed like this: 28 in LaLiga, 2 in Copa del Rey, seven in the Champions League, one in the Spanish SuperCup, one in the UEFA SuperCup and one in the Intercontinental Cup.
He is also the second player in history, according to MisterChip, to score 40 or more goals in his first season in Spanish soccer after Brazilian idol Ronaldo, who scored 47 goals in his first season with Barcelona in 1996-97.
Cristiano Ronaldo during his first season with Real Madrid (Getty Images)
However, despite Mbappe’s efforts, Madrid are finishing a difficult season. They were eliminated in the Champions League quarterfinals, lost the Copa del Rey final to Barcelona, and are coming off another defeat to their bitter rivals, who set a new record in El Clasico history.
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Mbappe’s first hat-trick for Real Madrid vs Barcelona: How many have Ronaldo and Messi recorded in El Clasico?
Madrid delays Barcelona’s title celebrations and maintain their hopes alive
After Mallorca opened the scoring at the Santiago Bernabeu with a goal from Martin Valjent in the 11th minute, it seemed Barcelona could clinch the title ahead of their match against Espanyol.
However, Mbappe equalized in the second half, and Jacobo Ramon scored his first goal for Madrid in the 95th minute to keep their title hopes alive. Still, they depend on the Blaugrana not winning their remaining three matches.
