Kylian Mbappe had a successful 2024/25 Champions League debut, scoring his first goal in the competition for Real Madrid to help them win 3-1 over Stuttgart at Santiago Bernábeu. The French star is now part of the all-time Top 10 scorers of the European championship, but he is still far away from highest-scorer Cristiano Ronaldo (141).
With this goal, Mbappe is now the 11th top goalscorer in the Champions League, including all phases, with 49 goals in 74 games. He is tied with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Alfredo Di Stefano. He is only one goal away from Thierry Henry, who scored 51 goals in 112 games in the competition with Arsenal (35), Monaco (7) and Barcelona (8), as well as Filippo Inzaghi (51).
Meanwhile, Ronaldo scored his 141 goals with Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Juventus in 183 games. So, Mbappe still needs 91 goals to reach the Portuguese in the all-time top goalscorer table.
On the other hand, Lionel Messi is second with 129 goals in 163 matches. But first Mbappe will have to surpass other legends such as Robert Lewandowski (94 and counting), Karim Benzema (90), Raúl González (71), Ruud van Nistelrooy (60), Andriy Shevchenko (59) and Thomas Müller (54 and counting).
Cristiano Ronaldo won five UEFA Champions League (Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, Mbappé is the 15th player to score on his debut for Real Madrid in the Champions League and the second Frenchman to do so after Christian Karembeu against Bayer 04 Leverkusen in 1998, according to OptaJose.
Ronaldo scored a brace in his Champions League debut for Real Madrid
Continuing with the comparisons, Ronaldo netted a brace in his debut Champions League match with Los Blancos. On September 15, 2009, he scored twice with free-kicks against FC Zürich during the group stage.
How many goals do Kylian Mbappe have with Real Madrid so far?
Before this game, Mbappé had scored three goals in five LaLiga matches, having struggled to find the net in his first three games. However, he has gradually found his best form and is now the team’s top goalscorer.
