All things considered, it has been a fairly quiet week for Kylian Mbappé. After riding the bench in their 4-1 win against Real Sociedad, Mbappé returned to the starting XI in Lisbon, where, despite bagging an assist, he was unable to assert his presence in a 1-0 win against Benfica in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League knockout playoffs. It was more of the same on Saturday, where he cut an isolated figure in contrast to the far more animated and effective Vinícius Júnior, as Real Madrid fell
to a 2-1 defeat at Osasuna and relinquished the top spot to Barcelona. But as Real Madrid fans are well aware, form is temporary, class is permanent. And even after an inconspicuous run of matches, there’s every reason to believe that Mbappé will turn it around in the second leg and deliver the goods against Benfica.
When Real Madrid signed Mbappé in 2024, the Frenchman had just finished a season that saw him claim a sixth consecutive Ligue 1 Golden Boot as well as a maiden UEFA Champions League Golden Boot. As Paris Saint Germain’s all-time leading scorer as well as the seventh-highest scorer in Ligue 1 history, Mbappé was expected to make a seamless transition to life in Spain and enjoy a trophy-laden campaign. From an individual perspective, he passed with flying honors, winning his first-ever European Golden Shoe and scoring the most goals in a debut Real Madrid season with 44 goals and 5 assists in 59 appearances. However, it wasn’t enough to spur Los Blancos to glory, and apart from the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Intercontinental Cup, they failed to win a single trophy.
It’s been more of the same this season, with Mbappé continuing to break records and prove why he is one of the greatest strikers of the 21st century. After bagging a brace against Ukraine to lead France to World Cup qualification – and going within two goals of Olivier Giroud as France’s all-time leading scorer – Mbappé became the youngest player to score 400 goals since Pelé in 1964. The following month, meanwhile, would see Mbappé equal Cristiano Ronaldo as the only player to score 59 goals in a calendar year for Real Madrid. He’s continued that stellar form in 2026, breaking the deadlock in a 2-0 win against Levante before scoring three straight braces vs. Monaco, Villarreal, and Benfica, followed by goals against Rayo Vallecano and Valencia and an assist at Benfica.
Mbappé is leading all LaLiga players in Expected Goals (20.8), goal contributions (27), shots per game (4.8), and shots on target per game (2.2), while he also ranks second behind Lamine Yamal for successful dribbles per game. He’s also ranking third for key passes per game (2.3), whilst only Cristhian Stuani (a goal every 74 minutes) is scoring at a higher frequency than him (88). More importantly, after pipping Lewandowski (27) to the top scorer award with an impressive 31-goal haul, Mbappé looks set to outdo his 2024/25 tally. He’s racked up 23 goals so far in league play, well above Vedat Muriqi (16), Ante Budimir (12) and Ferran Torres (12), and there’s reason to believe that he can continue stretching that gap over the course of the season.
This pattern holds true in Europe’s elite competition: Mbappé currently sits atop the Champions League scoring charts with 13 goals, well above second-placed Anthony Gordon (10), whilst only Harry Kane (28 league goals) sits above him in the European Golden Shoe race. And despite only just turning 27, only five players have scored more goals than him (68) in the history of the UEFA Champions League: Raúl (71), Karim Benzema (90), Robert Lewandowski (107), Lionel Messi (129), and Cristiano Ronaldo (140). It remains to be seen whether Mbappé will overtake Raúl this season and establish his presence in the Champions League’s top five, but one thing’s for sure: Mbappé is all but confirmed to do something that only a handful of players have done by winning back-to-back Pichichi awards.
Since its inception in 1929, only a couple of players have managed to finish atop LaLiga’s scoring charts in consecutive seasons. Real Oviedo’s Isidro Lángara became the very first to do so from 1933/34 to 1935/36. All things considered, Lángara scored 17 goals in 12 Spain caps, he boasts the highest goal-to-game ratio in LaLiga history at 1.14, and he was also the first player to score at least 100 goals for three clubs and the only one to achieve it on three continents. It wasn’t until Telmo Zarra came around a decade later that Lángara’s achievements started to pale in comparison, with the Spaniard finishing with the Golden Boot in 1944/45, 1945/46, 1946/47, 1949/50, 1950/51, and 1952/53. Whilst he remained LaLiga’s all-time leading scorer with 251 goals before being usurped by Lionel Messi six decades later, he remains Athletic Club’s all-time leading scorer to this day. Zarra was kicked off the top of the scoring charts by Alfredo Di Stéfano in 1953/54, with the Real Madrid striker claiming the Pichichi in 1955/56, 1956/57, 1957/58 (alongside two other players) and 1958/59.
As the ‘50s transitioned to the ‘60s, the Saeta Rubia made way for another elite striker to make his name in Spain’s top-flight for Real Madrid – Ferenc Puskás – who finished atop the charts in 1959/60, 1960/61, 1962/63 and 1963/64. Atlético Madrid’s José Eulogio Gárate was also able to achieve this unique feat after finishing atop the scoring charts in 1968/69 alongside Real Madrid’s Amancio, before sharing the top spot with Amancio and teammate Luis Aragonés the following year, and then finishing atop the scoring charts alongside Barcelona’s Carles Rexach in 1970/71. In addition to leading Argentina to their first-ever World Cup, Valencia’s Mario Kempes was able to come away with back-to-back Pichichis in 1976/77 and 1977/78.
Quini, having won his first three Golden Boots with Sporting Gijón in 1973/74, 1975/76, and 1979/80, was able to continue his fantastic form with Barcelona after bagging two more top scorer awards in 1980/81 and 1981/82. And after claiming the 1984/85 Pichichi with Atlético Madrid, Mexican striker Hugo Sánchez made the move across the Spanish capital and won four of the next five Golden Boots for Los Blancos. It wasn’t until 23 years later that another player was able to claim back-to-back Pichichis, with Lionel Messi winning it in 2011/12 and 2012/13 before watching as Ronaldo won the next two. And whilst Luis Suárez would edge both players to the award with a barely believable 40 goals in 35 matches, Messi would proceed to win five consecutive Pichichi awards before departing for Paris Saint-Germain.
It remains to be seen whether or not Mbappé can spur Real Madrid to a record 16th Champions League title, or if he can help them wrestle the league back from Barcelona and secure a record 37th championship, but one thing’s for sure: he’s all but guaranteed to become one of the only players in the history of the Spanish top-flight to win back-to-back Pichichis.
