Real Madrid moved into the Champions League last 16 on Wednesday with a hat-trick from Kylian Mbappe, who also has a new high in Los Blancos.
The French superstar had dreams of this night, both as a boy sleeping in his room with Cristiano Ronaldo posters and during his earlier seasons at Paris Saint-Germain.
Mbappe watched as Madrid continued to dominate the European game, winning 15 European Cups in a record time as PSG struggled year after year in Europe.
The Spanish and European champions needed the forward to deliver as Madrid’s poor start to the current campaign was partially a result of Mbappe’s teething issues.
With three deadly finishes, he managed to help Madrid’s swarm of superstars seal a 3-1 nightcap and 6-3 overall record.
“This is the type of game we want to play”, said Mbappe.
“I want to live through many more of these nights,” someone said to me after they first learned about them.
Mbappe finally arrived in the Spanish capital last summer after years of speculation and unsuccessful attempts to sign him.
However, his initial months were troublesome, with an improbable lack of confidence, and erratic behavior.
Missed penalties against Liverpool and Athletic Bilbao raised concerns for him, but Mbappe drew a line under it and pledged to show his character.
His best performance in a Madrid shirt came against City, where he scored 18 goals in his last 18 games.
After scoring a stunning treble against City, Mbappe told Movistar, “I knew I couldn’t have done worse than I was doing.”
“I had to play with personality, my adaptation time was over and I have to show my quality”.
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 , ‘Sign with my blood ‘
Mbappe claimed that signing for Madrid would not help him reach his long-term goals.
“Making my dream come true is one thing, but I want to play well here, mark an era and write history at Real Madrid”, he explained.
“I’ve always said I have no limit, if I can score 50 goals I will score them, if I can score more, I’ll score more, but the important thing is winning titles.
” In my career I’ve scored a lot of goals but we have to see if they mean something, because in the end we didn’t always win titles… if I can score a lot of goals and we win the trophies, I’ll sign for that with my blood. “
Mbappe has scored 28 goals in 38 games for Real Madrid, and despite only starting out with Los Blancos, he has drawn comparisons to the team’s all-time greats.
” He has the quality to reach the level of Cristiano (at Madrid), “Ancelotti told reporters.
” He has to work because Cristiano set the bar very high, (Mbappe) has just started at this club.
“For the quality he has, and the excitement he has to play here, he can reach Ronaldo’s level but it won’t be easy for him, he has to work”.
Portuguese veteran Ronaldo scored 450 goals in 438 games for Madrid after joining from Manchester United in 2009, becoming the team’s all-time top goalscorer.
Although Vinicius Junior became the team’s key player in the years since, Mbappe’s childhood idol left Madrid in 2018, his ability to score goals makes him the most likely performer on a similar scale.
In the upcoming round, Mbappe said he would prefer a derby fight to face either Bayer Leverkusen or Atletico Madrid, the city rivals.
Mbappe, who is looking forward to the last 16 and more opportunities to shine for his dream club, said, “Both games would be difficult, so it’s better to have a difficult game without traveling.”
Source: Channels TV
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