How Kylian Mbappe Compares to Messi, Ronaldo After 100 Champions League Matches
Kylian Mbappé celebrated becoming the youngest player in history to feature in 100 Champions League games in Real Madrid's incredible 4-3 comeback win against Roma on Wednesday night. The Frenchman scored the first of the night for Jose Mourinho's men, making it 72 goals in 100 games on Europe's biggest stage.
It feels like only yesterday that the now Real Madrid forward burst into the scene with Monaco during the 2016-17 season, bagging his first career Champions League goal in a memorable 5-3 win away against Manchester City in the round of 16. Mbappé moved to Paris Saint-Germain a season later and has since only enhanced his status as one of the greatest players in competition history.
The most prestigious trophy in club soccer continues to evade the Frenchman, but at only 27, Mbappé has spent almost a decade scoring goals for fun, and he's keeping pace with the greatest goalscorers in Champions League history through 100 games. Hisstrike against Romasaw him overtake Real Madrid legend Raúl to stand alone as the fifth greatest goalscorer in competition history.
Mbappé still has a long way to go before he's even close to Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, the top two goalscorers in Champions League history. But given his age and how he compares through 100 games, there's reason to believe he's capable of matching or even overtaking the two all-time greats when it's all said and done.
Ronaldo, the all-time leading scorer in the competition, had only bagged 66 of his eventual 140 goals when he played his 100th Champions League match. Messi ended with 129 goals and had scored 77 after 100 games.
Mbappé is sandwiched between the pair at 72, and given the expanded tournament format, he still has plenty of time to close the gap. Robert Lewandowski is the only other player to eclipse the century goal-mark in the Champions League.
The legendary Pole, though, had a staggering 81 goals through his first 100 appearances. Player Goals Scored Teams Lionel Messi 77 Barcelona Kylian Mbappé 72 Monaco/PSG/Real Madrid Cristiano Ronaldo 66 Man Utd/Real Madrid But beyond the individual statistics, both Messi and Ronaldo were Champions League winners inside their first 100 games played in the competition.
Mbappé came closest in 2019-20, when PSG lost 1-0 in the final against Bayern Munich. The Frenchman hasn't made it past the semifinal round since.
Mbappé Wants Champions League Title 'More Than Anything' Champions League glory continues to evade Kylian Mbappé. But since he landed in Spain's capital, Mbappé and Madrid have failed to make it past the quarterfinals.