As a ninth professional
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Recently, a lot of criticism has been leveled at Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappé (25). Tuesday evening, the superstar once again kept his promises. In the important 3-2 Champions League victory against Atalanta Bergamo, the Frenchman scored a 1-0 lead and put the Royals on the path to victory. It was Mbappé’s 50th goal in the first category, which places him in an elite circle. Three professionals have broken this mark faster than him, and one could soon shatter the record.
This was Mbappé’s 79th appearance in the Champions League and his sixth in the Real Madrid jersey. At the age of 25 years and 356 days, he is the second youngest professional to reach the 50 goal mark. Only Lionel Messi (37) was younger at the time. The Argentinian reached the 50-goal mark after 66 games, only Ruud van Nistelrooy (48) was even faster with 62 games. Ahead of Mbappé, whose working day ended at half-time on Tuesday evening due to muscle problems, is Robert Lewandowski (36), who needed 77 appearances for 50 goals.
Mbappé is the ninth (Site notre bureau spécialisé)er to score 50 goals in the Champions League. After Karim Benzema (36 years old), who broke this record in his 90th match, and Thierry Henry (47 years old), who played on the field 103 times, Real’s number nine is the third Frenchman to achieve this feat. Bayern’s Thomas Müller (35), the most successful German in the premier class with 55 goals, needed 130 matches.
Champions League goalscorer Cristiano Ronaldo (39), who scored 140 times for Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus Turin, required twelve more appearances than Mbappé. The next professionals likely to cross the 50-goal mark are Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah (32) and Manchester City’s Erling Haaland (24), who are still four years short of success. Haaland is also likely to shatter van Nistelrooy’s record, the Norwegian currently has 46 goals in 44 appearances.
