‘We Thought’—Real Madrid Boss Makes Bold Kylian Mbappe, Cristiano Ronaldo Prediction

Álvaro Arbeloa’s gut feeling doesn’t quite stack up with the numbers.

Kylian Mbappé is chasing down Cristiano Ronaldo’s scoring records at Real Madrid. | Omar Arnau/Quality Sport Images/Mohammed Saad/Anadolu/Getty Images

Real Madrid manager Álvaro Arbeloa admitted that Kylian Mbappé is getting far closer to Cristiano Ronaldo’s feats for the Spanish giants than anyone previously thought possible.

“We’re running out of superlatives to describe Kylian,” Ronaldo’s former Madrid teammate gushed after watching Mbappé rack up his 38th goal of the season in his 31st appearance against Valencia on Sunday night. “We thought we’d never see anything like Cristiano, and it seems Mbappé is heading in that direction.”

Ronaldo finished his Real Madrid career with four Champions League titles, a pair of La Liga crowns and a staggering record of 450 goals in 438 games, more than any other player in the illustrious history of Europe’s most successful side. Mbappé isn’t quite on track to surpass his childhood idol, but the fact that it’s even a conversation is to the Frenchman’s credit.

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How Kylian Mbappe Compares to Cristiano Ronaldo

Kylian Mbappé is hoping to drag Real Madrid to silverware this season. | Guillermo Martinez/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Goals

Mbappé’s outing at Mestalla, a visit which his manager compared to a trip to the dentist, was another sweet affair for the 27-year-old. The unlikely figure of left back Álvaro Carreras broke the deadlock of a stodgy contest shortly after the hour mark before Mbappé sealed proceedings in stoppage time with a calm side-foot into the bottom corner.

That represented Mbappé’s 82nd goal for Real Madrid on his 90th appearance for the club. Ronaldo could lay claim to 86 strikes over his first 90 matches.

Much like his successor, the Portuguese superstar had an impressive if not extraordinary debut season before going supernova in his second year. Ronaldo finished the 2010–11 campaign with 53 goals in 54 games, including 40 league goals—although MARCA tried to give him 41, deliberately overlooking the deflection of a shot which UEFA and La Liga awarded to Pepe.

Despite his reputation as “Penaldo,” Mbappé has been more reliant upon spot kicks, with almost a quarter (23%) of his goals coming from 12 yards compared to Ronaldo’s ratio of 15%. Intriguingly, 11 of Ronaldo’s tally also came from direct free kicks across his first two years in Madrid, that mastery of the knuckle ball which would later desert him still very much present.

Statistic After 90 Games	Kylian Mbappé	Cristiano Ronaldo
Total Goals	82	86
Minutes per Goal	90.3	88.6
Penalties	19	13
Direct Free Kicks	1	11

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Results

Cristiano Ronaldo scored the winning goal for Real Madrid against Barcelona in the 2011 Copa del Rey final. | Helios de la Rubia/Real Madrid/Getty Images

Mbappé’s individual contribution to Real Madrid can hardly be questioned. He is solely responsible for 41% of all the goals the team have scored during his appearances, with a staggering 24 of his strikes proving to be the winning goal. Ronaldo, for comparison, scored to win 15 of his first 90 games in Madrid, yet the overall makeup of his side was more successful than Mbappé’s iteration.

Manuel Pellegrini steered Madrid to a commendable return of 96 points in the 2009–10 La Liga campaign. Unfortunately, Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering Barcelona amassed 99 that same year, condemning Ronaldo and his new side to a golden second place. Barça would again prevail in the top flight in 2010–11 (and knock Real Madrid out of the Champions League semifinals) but the incoming José Mourinho had crafted the team into a high-spec counter-attacking weapon.

Ronaldo lost just three games in his second season in the capital—Mbappé has already suffered five this term—and thumped in the only goal of the 2011 Copa del Rey final to deny Guardiola’s side a second treble in three years.

It was combustible behind the scenes, but Mourinho extracted the best form out of Ronaldo and Madrid en masse, orchestrating a stunning 2011–12 La Liga title which saw Los Blancos break records for points, goals scored and wins. Whether Arbeloa, a self-confessed Mourinho disciple, can conjure the same performances out of Mbappé and this modern Madrid side very much remains to be seen.

Statistic After 90 Games	Kylian Mbappé	Cristiano Ronaldo
Wins	63	70
Draws	8	12
Losses	19	7
Trophies	UEFA Super Cup, Intercontinental Cup	Copa del Rey

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