“I want to write history with Real Madrid.”
Kylian Mbappe’s message to the media was clear after his brilliant hat-trick destroyed Manchester City in the second leg of their 3-1 Champions League play-off win.
The French striker’s goal in the 3-2 first-leg victory at Etihad Stadium may have come from a scuffed finish, but there was nothing fortunate about any of his three in the return at Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday that sealed a 6-3 aggregate success over the English champions.
Mbappe’s talent was on full display – his blistering pace, sharp movement and ruthless finishing proving too much for Pep Guardiola’s side to handle and sealing the holders’ place in the last 16.
Not long ago, the France captain had come under heavy scrutiny from Real fans and pundits after scoring just three times in 11 appearances for Carlo Ancelotti’s side. It followed the 26-year-old’s acrimonious exit from Paris St-Germain to join the Spanish giants on a free transfer last June when his contract ended.
But he has now scored 27 goals in all competitions so far this season after a ‘slow start’ to life in Madrid. It’s safe to say he is no longer adapting, but thriving.
“The adaptation period for me has ended and now I have to show my quality,” said Mbappe. “I want to play well here, I want to make a mark on the season.
“We wanted to win. We wanted to qualify for the next round. For us it was only logical that Real reached the next round of the Champions League.”
Mbappe is now starting to look more like the feared frontman who scored 256 goals in 308 appearances during six years at PSG.
And the Real faithful have clearly embraced him too as he received a standing ovation when he was taken off in the 78th minute after his treble.
“What an ovation it is for Mbappe,” said BBC Radio 5 Live’s chief football correspondent John Murray.
“What a player. What a man. What an individual. Just listen to how they love him here in Madrid.”
‘Incredible what Mbappe has done’ – Bellingham
Mbappe struggled to adapt to the central striker role entrusted in him by Ancelotti, with Vinicius Jr preferred in his favourite left-wing role.
“If you go back to the first Clasico of the season at Bernabeu, it was so big for him,” European football expert James Horncastle told BBC Match of the Day.
“Madrid lost 4-0, Mbappe didn’t score and he was caught offside eight times. That was unthinkable for him.”
His poor form in Spain even cost him a place in the France squad as Didier Deschamps omitted the national team captain from four Nations League fixtures in October and November last year.
But since the turn of the new year, he has scored seven goals in six La Liga matches while also keeping Real alive in Europe after a shaky start to their campaign.
“I don’t think anyone has ever doubted his talents, there was just going to be an adaptation period for him joining this club,” said former England defender Joleon Lescott on TNT Sports.
Murray added: “There were one or two questions as to whether he would fit in here. That now seems preposterous.”
It is no wonder he is already drawing comparisons with another Real legend – one Cristiano Ronaldo.
In fact, numbers suggest he is already emulating the Portugal superstar, who won four Champions League crowns and two La Liga titles during a trophy-laden stay Madrid.
Mbappe’s seven goals in this season’s Champions League has him level with Ronaldo (2009-10) and Spanish striker Justo Tejada (1961-62) for most goals scored by a Real player in Europe’s premier club competition during their debut campaign.
“It is incredible what he has done in his career,” team-mate Jude Bellingham told TNT Sports.
“I know he had a slow start here and took time getting used to life here. Now he is flying and it’s so good to see.”
With more performances like Wednesday, it will only be a matter of time before he cements his status as the face, and hero, of this Real side.
“Tonight, he definitely announced himself with this club and the fans,” added former Manchester City and England defender Lescott.
“If they go on to win it, this will be the moment they recognise Mbappe is their guy and the main man.”
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