Real Madrid just had a big 4-1 victory over Las Palmas in round 20 of La Liga, thereby firmly holding the top position with 46 points, 2 points more than Atletico Madrid and 7 points more than Barcelona. This is a somewhat surprising result if looking at Los Blancos in the previous 2 months.
At that time, the Bernabeu team stumbled continuously, seemingly leaving the La Liga race. During that difficult time, the disappointed image of Kylian Mbappe was mentioned constantly. However, things are different now.
The French striker's brace against Las Palmas was just two of many goals scored by the Les Bleus captain in recent times. In his last seven matches in all competitions, the 'Ninja Turtle' has scored eight goals and provided two assists. This is the image that Madridistas want to see from the contract expected to replace the influence of Cristiano Ronaldo before.
Looking back to December 2024, after the match against Athletic Bilbao, Mbappe himself admitted that he was at rock bottom in terms of form. However, after that, everything disappeared, the match last Sunday was an affirmation of the French star's return.
Since the defeat to Bilbao on December 4, 2024, Mbappe has been involved in 10 Real Madrid goals (as above). On average, every 74.5 minutes on the pitch, the 26-year-old star participates in a Los Blancos goal. When Mbappe plays well, his teammates around him are also freer, thereby having more opportunities to shine.
"He's a devil, it's been a long time since I've seen a player with such a big influence on the rest of the team" - Dani Ceballos shared after the win over Las Palmas.
As soon as the home team conceded a goal in the first minute of the match, Mbappe took the penalty kick to equalize 1-1. Before that, it was Mbappe who missed the penalty kick in Real Madrid's defeat to Liverpool (Champions League) and Athletic Bilbao (La Liga). Then, Vinicius was injured, the responsibility of scoring and taking the penalty fell on Mbappe's shoulders. He did not disappoint the "White Vulture" fans.
When Mbappe scored his second goal against Las Palmas, making it 3-1, the satisfied expression of coach Carlo Ancelotti on the sidelines said it all. The Italian strategist once said that as long as Mbappe plays at the right level, Real Madrid's chances of winning all tournaments are very high.
As for Mbappe, he always wants to score more goals for Real Madrid. Before the break, the Los Blancos striker could have had a hat-trick if the third goal had not been ruled out by VAR for offside. Mbappe was somewhat angry with himself for missing the chance. That is the spirit and dedication Ancelotti wants to see from his student.
Since the beginning of the season, Mbappe has scored 12 goals in 18 matches in La Liga. In 2009, when Ronaldo first joined Real Madrid, CR7 scored 15 goals in 18 matches. If he maintains this form, Mbappe's first season could be as good as the Portuguese legends have had.
"Is he the best player in the world right now? Or the best striker? We doubted that Mbappe could play as a centre-forward and said he would be better on the wing. It seems everyone was wrong" - Ancelotti shared about Mbappe after the win over Las Palmas.
