Kylian Mbappe equals Cristiano Ronaldo’s Real Madrid scoring record in controversial win

Carlo Ancelotti summarized it perfectly. Against Leganes on Saturday evening and for a large part of 2025 as a whole, Kylian Mbappe for Real Madrid has “the difference”.

The summer recruit opened this weekend in Santiago Bernabeu with a punishment from the 32nd minute, but the goals of Diego Garcia and Daniel Raba gave Leganes a shock-half-time advantage in the capital. Jude Bellingham glossed out for the hosts within two minutes after the restart, before Mbappe added his second night to send Real Madrid to points with Barcelona on La Liga’s summit.

Mbappes Brace brought him to 33 goals for Real Madrid in all competitions this season and corresponded to Cristiano Ronaldo’s balance sheet during his debut campaign in Spanish football in 2009/10. Only Ivan Zamorano, who scored 37 points in 1992/93, has ever recorded a more productive opening season for Real Madrid.

“It’s something very special,” admitted Mbappe after the victory on Saturday. “The most important things are the things they do with the team, but they always have the same number of goals as Cristiano. We know what he represents for Real Madrid and for me. We always talk and he gives me a lot of advice. But as I always say, we have to win trophies.”

The crucial goal, Mbappe’s second and Madrid’s third of the night, came from a free kick on the edge of the Leganes Box. The Frenchman, who has a terrible record of Set pieces, nudged the ball to Fran Garcia before leaning over the wall.

It was another special moment for Mbappe, which, after the match, revealed that “we had been working on this free kick with the coaching team for a few weeks for a few weeks.” But it was a hot controversial incident for an away team Adamant that Renato Tapia Rodrygo hadn’t fouled.

The boss of Leganes Borja Jimenez stopped complaining about the referee and instead described the controversial decision as “bad luck”. “I hope the club is doing something about it,” he warned.

A survey on the website of MarcaA Spanish publication that historically praised readers who turn to Real Madrid indicated the doubt behind the decision. Three quarters of the 40,000 people surveyed claimed that Madrid had not received the free kick that led to Mbappe’s goal.

As always, Ancelotti was unimpressed. “If legans complain,” he sniffed, “we can also complain.”

Leganes would have the last word. When Europe prepared for the fact that the clocks were moving forward on Sunday morning at the beginning of spring, the club’s official social media account put the club: “And in addition, they also steal an hour from us today …”

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