The new messiah
Kylian Mbappé is thriving at Real Madrid: 25 goals in 20 games and leading scorer in La Liga
Rob Palmer, commentator ESPN
Friday, 5 December 2025, 19:32
From "Fall on d'Floor" to the Ballon d'Or. What a difference a year makes!
This week in 2024, Kylian Mbappé was a figure of ridicule after missing successive penalties against Liverpool and Athletic Bilbao.
Yet 12 months later, he's regarded as the best player in the world as he smashes new goalscoring records and illuminates every game he plays in.
"It's the best time to change the situation and show who I am" was his post on Instagram after the embarrassment in December 2024. Although he was averaging a goal every other game, he felt he'd hit rock-bottom.
He looked like he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. Clearly affected by his messy footballing divorce from PSG, he was eager to impress his new fans, yet careful not to step on the toes of the established Real Madrid stars. It was a eureka moment for the galáctico who was feeling merely human.
"Move over fellas," he said to Vinícius Júnior and Rodrygo. He was taking centre-stage; no more trying to fit in, trying to please his teammates - he was taking over as the crowd-pleaser.
When commentating on his performance against Athletic Bilbao at the San Mamés this week, I was convinced that he's now playing to a standard that only Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo reached.
His brace against the Basques took him level with the 62 goals Ronaldo scored in the 2012 calendar year; he still has four games to go in 2025. He also set a new record for goals scored in the opening 15 rounds of the Spanish season.
He's replicating to incredible talents of the Brazilian Ronaldo when it comes to style of performance - with a similar style, grace, explosive speed and self-confidence to the 1994 and 2002 World Cup winner.
His stats are stupendous: he's now scored 25 goals in 20 games; he's the leading scorer in La Liga and the Uefa Champions League; he recorded his fifth brace of the season in Bilbao; and he's also scored a hat-trick and a poker - four goals against Olympiakos.
He accounts for 57% of the goals Real Madrid have scored this season - the highest percentage of any player in Europe's top five leagues.
It could be argued that Madrid have become too dependent on his goals. The same argument was made for Messi and Ronaldo in their primes.
Credit must go to Xabi Alonso. The new coach made a big decision to cast aside Rodrygo and ask Vinícius Júnior to play second-fiddle. Mbappé is thriving in the extra space.
Rodrygo's days look numbered as he doesn't get a look in; he's not scored a Liga goal in 11 months and needs a new challenge. It isn't natural for Vinícius to be in the shadows of anyone. He's also goal shy - he hasn't scored in his past 10 appearances, but he is finding other ways to capture attention and the headlines.
We have always known Mbappé is a world-class talent, but he'd never fully expressed himself. I'm now convinced that that he is the new messiah - and to quote Monty Python, I should know, I've seen a few!
