Carlo Ancelotti said Kylian Mbappé “has the possibility” to match Cristiano Ronaldo’s legacy at Real Madrid after the forward equalled Ronaldo’s goal tally in his debut season at the club.
Mbappé scored twice in Madrid’s 3-2 comeback win against Leganés at the Santiago Bernabéu on Saturday, making it 33 goals in all competitions so far this season.
Ronaldo also scored 33 goals in his first Madrid campaign — in 2009-10 — before going on to become the club’s all-time record goalscorer, winning four Champions Leagues and two LaLiga titles among a total of 16 trophies.
“It’s difficult to compare different players,” Ancelotti said in a news conference on Monday when asked if Mbappé could go on to become the best player in history.”
“What I can hope for is that Mbappé can achieve what Cristiano Ronaldo achieved at Real Madrid. I think he has the possibility to do it. If he does that, he’ll be a legend at Real Madrid like Cristiano Ronaldo is.”
Mbappé has scored 22 goals in 27 LaLiga appearances so far, as well as another seven in the Champions League, and one-off goals in the Copa del Rey, Spanish Supercopa, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Intercontinental Cup.
Madrid are second in LaLiga, host Real Sociedad in their Copa del Rey semifinal second leg on Tuesday — having won the first leg 1-0 — and face Arsenal in the Champions League quarterfinals next week.
