Kylian Mbappé has expressed his delight at winning his first European Golden Boot as a Real Madrid player, but dismissed suggestions he is looking to try and eclipse Cristiano Ronaldo’s statistics and legacy at the club.
After 31 goals in 34 games across his first season in La Liga, Mbappé was this week presented with the European Golden Boot to mark his status as the top goalscorer in Europe across the 2024–25 season on a scale which also measures the difficulty of the league in which those goals were scored.
It was the first such honor of Mbappé’s career and the Frenchman is looking to add as many of these trophies to his cabinet as possible. However, catching up to Ronaldo, who won three of his four European Golden Boots with Madrid, is not a specific part of his mission.
“Everyone knows that Cristiano is the benchmark in Madrid, number one,” Mbappé told MARCA when asked if he plans to exceed Ronaldo’s statistics. “I’ve been here for a year and a half, and he was here for nine years. I can’t compare myself to what he did; my path is different.
“I want to forge my own path, but being mentioned alongside Cristiano is already an honor. But I’m only focused on forging my own path, helping the team, and winning every title possible.
“Since I was a child, I’ve always dreamed of scoring goals. Every kid who starts playing football dreams of scoring, of doing it many times. In the end, it’s a very important award and it makes me very happy, but everyone knows that team achievements are the most important.
“I hope to win another Golden Boot in the future, but above all, I hope we win the league. If we’re talking about why I won the Golden Boot thanks to my goals in the league, my goal this year is to continue in the same vein with the team. If we win the league and I win another Golden Boot, I’ll be even happier than I am now.”
Mbappé: We’re Starting to Understand Xabi Alonso
Mbappé is on track to win a second consecutive Golden Boot after starting the season with 13 goals in just 11 La Liga games under new manager Xabi Alonso.
Alonso’s approach to management is reported to have frustrated a handful of big names in the Madrid squad, not least Vinicius Junior, but Mbappé insisted Madrid are moving in the right direction under their new boss.
“I’ve had many coaches and I’m used to each one having their own philosophy and style,” he said. “Xabi is different from [Carlo] Ancelotti; he has his own way of working, and little by little we’re understanding what he wants.
“You can see on the pitch that we've improved since the start of the season, since the Club World Cup, although we still have room for improvement. We haven’t won anything yet, but we’re doing well. We’re on the right track and we hope to win every title possible.”
Asked for his goals for the 2025–26 campaign under Alonso, Mbappé refused to offer anything concrete and instead argued he simply plans to take Madrid as far as possible.
“You know how I am,” he laughed. “As a competitor, I want to fight for everything. You can’t choose just one goal. Of course, it’s going to be difficult, but I want to win everything and give my all in every competition. I’m not going to pick just one.
“I never set a [goal] number as a limit. My goal is to take advantage of every opportunity to score and help the team. The more goals I score, the more titles we can win. My priority is always to contribute to the team, whether it’s by scoring goals or doing anything else that allows us to win. That’s the most important thing, and I'm going to do it 100%.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Kylian Mbappe Responds to Cristiano Ronaldo Challenge After Golden Boot Victory.