It started modestly, and after years of anticipation, that simply wasn’t enough. However, since around October, Kylian Mbappé began to find his rhythm, and over the past two months, he has completely hit his stride. Now, the Madrid public is rightfully asking: can the Frenchman grow into the kind of icon at Real Madrid that Cristiano Ronaldo once was?
Kylian Mbappé is the first player to score 15 goals in his first 19 matches in La Liga with Real since 2010. Kylian Mbappé is also the first Real player to score a hat-trick away from home in La Liga in 9 years.Both stats since a certain Cristiano Ronaldo. 
pic.twitter.com/swpshA59fq— Football Tweet 
(@Football__Tweet) January 26, 2025 A definitive answer will take years, as Ronaldo spent nine seasons with Los Blancos, winning four Champions League titles, but “only” two La Liga championships, two Copa del Rey trophies, two Spanish Super Cups, two UEFA Super Cups, and three FIFA Club World Cups. Along the way, he scored an astonishing 450 goals and provided 131 assists in 438 appearances! An incredible statistic indeed—Ronaldo gave his best years to Real, and the question remains whether anyone can come close to his legacy. However, despite some early skepticism, Mbappé has made a blistering start. Granted, he has had certain “advantages” that Ronaldo did not.Put it in the Louvre! Mbappe’s hat-trick seals the deal for MadridIt might be forgotten now, but Ronaldo didn’t win a single trophy in his first season in Madrid. He had to wait until his second year to lift the Copa del Rey. Mbappé, on the other hand, already has two titles to his name: the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Intercontinental Cup. To be fair to Ronaldo, Real Madrid wasn’t even competing for those trophies in his debut season. In the Copa del Rey, they suffered an embarrassing exit against lower-tier Alcorcón—though Ronaldo wasn’t to blame, as he didn’t play that match. In the Champions League, he scored seven goals in six games, but Real were eliminated in the Round of 16 by Lyon.Can VMR be better than BBC?When it comes to goal-scoring, we all remember Ronaldo’s six consecutive seasons with over 50 goals (including a high of 61 and another of 60), but in his first season, he finished with 33 goals—his lowest tally during his Madrid days. Mbappé currently sits at 22 goals but has plenty of time to catch up and surpass that number. Just in January alone, he has already found the net eight times in eight games. If he maintains this pace, even the 40-goal mark is within reach.##NAJAVA_MECA_8657230##Of course, the circumstances are entirely different. When Ronaldo arrived, Real Madrid was still building a new era. Mbappé, on the other hand, joined an already well-established championship-winning team. Yet, within just six months, he has cemented himself as one of the most important players—exactly what was expected of him. Another key difference is the match calendar. So far, Mbappé has played 33 games for Real Madrid, while at the same stage of his first season, Ronaldo had only played 16, scoring 15 goals. Ronaldo also had the misfortune of missing the entire month of October due to an ankle injury. In the end, Ronaldo has already become a legend—an icon, arguably one of the greatest, if not the greatest, in football history. Mbappé, at this point, isn’t even part of those discussions. But if he continues at this pace, he might just enter the conversation.
