Kylian Mbappe and Cristiano Ronaldo were both welcomed at the Bernabeu with a grand cheer of more than 80,000 fans. Both of them shouted: "One, two, three,... Hala Madrid!" on that historic day. However, the journey to Los Blancos of both sides is a bit contrasted.
When Ronaldo moved to Real Madrid in 2009, he was 24 years old and had just won the Golden Ball 2008. The CR7 price at that time was the highest in history (80 million pounds). Meanwhile, in the summer of 2024, Mbappe arrived at the Bernabeu on a free transfer at the age of 25.
In his first season playing for Los Blancos, Ronaldo scored 33 goals. However, Mbappe has reached that milestone and there is still more than 1 month left to end the season. Currently, Real are playing in 3 arenas: Cope Del Rey (final), Champions League (quarter-final) and La Liga (in round 30).
Mbappe's 33 goals this season have come from 46 appearances with a rate of 0.72 goals/match. Meanwhile, Ronaldo scored 33 goals/35 matches with a very impressive rate of 0.94 goals/match.
Compared to his senior, Mbappe has many goals that are considered more important. These goals are defined as helping the home team equalize or take the lead. In his first season at Real, Ronaldo scored 14 of these in La Liga and 4 in the Champions League. Meanwhile, Mbappe has scored 13 goals and 4 goals in those tournaments so far.
In his first season, Ronaldo was a key factor in the matches against Villarreal, Athletic Bilbao and Marseille. Meanwhile, Mbappe played very well against more tough opponents such as Atletico Madrid, Sevilla and Manchester City.
Despite scoring many goals, both have had difficulty in the early stages to adapt to the new environment. Ronaldo has scored 9 goals in the first 7 matches but then suffered an ankle injury and had to miss 2 months. CR7 was also sent off twice. Therefore, Ronaldo has lost 3 more matches due to suspension.
Mbappe has only missed two games since the start of the season, all of which were due to injuries. He has recovered from a broken nose while playing for France at EURO 2024. The 25-year-old striker struggled to integrate into Carlo Ancelotti's system at first. His favorite left winger position has been held by Vinicius Junior. Therefore, Mbappe was forced to play as a striker.
In terms of the number of matches played, Mbappe has more than Ronaldo because the current tournament systems are getting more and more, the frequency of playing is getting more and more. Due to his success last season, Real Madrid had to play more matches in the UEFA Super Cup, Intercontinental Cup, Supercopa, ... Mbappe has won 2 titles since joining Real while Ronaldo needs a Copa Del Rey in the second year.
This summer, when the FIFA Club World Cup format changes, Real Madrid will play continuously and Mbappe will have more scoring opportunities. However, before that, they have a chance to win the treble when they still have the same goal in the Champions League, La Liga and Copa Del Rey. If he can do this, without even needing to score many more goals, Mbappe will consider him as much as surpassing Ronaldo in his first season at Los Blancos.
The 33 goals Ronaldo scored in his first season with Real Madrid are the total number of goals scored/season the striker has scored in the 9-year journey at the Bernabeu. His second worst record was in 2016-2019 with 42 goals. CR7 ended his career at Real Madrid with 450 goals in 438 matches, winning 4 Ballons d'Or, 4 Champions Leagues, 2 La Lhas and countless other titles.
If they had a common point, both Mbappe and Ronaldo would have been victims of disastrous losses to Barcelona in their first season at Real Madrid. Not only that, these two superstars are also involved in a series of love scandals. Ronaldo was accused of sexual assault at a hotel in Las Vegas (USA) in June 2009, right before he joined Madrid. As for Mbappe, in December 2024, he was involved in an investigation into an alleged rape in Stockholm (Sweden).
