Real Madrid Almost Make a Mess of Kylian Mbappe’s Historic Champions League Night

Another dreadful, uninspired opening from Real Madrid on Wednesday evening was briefly forgotten when Kylian Mbappé rifled a sensational right-footed strike from distance into the back of the net.

The Frenchman burned his marker with a clever spin and then was headed toward goal as four players in red converged around him. Instead of taking on his defenders or dribbling into the box, Mbappé tried his luck from 25 yards out and saw his shot loop over the outstretched hand of Roma goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini.

A deflection along the way helped the ball find its end target, but no one in white—least of all Mbappé—cared. It was the equalizer Real Madrid desperately needed after going down 1–0 to Roma at the Stadio Olimpico.

It was also a moment of magic Mbappé summoned to breathe life into a team wildly uninterested in maintaining possession, creating chances or tracking back. A team that looked wildly uninterested in playing at even half the level necessary to win a Champions League match away from home.

By the time the halftime whistle sounded, Mbappé’s strike was the only goal Real Madrid managed in a withering opening 45 minutes. Things went from lackluster to dire soon after the restart; the visitors were on the wrong end of a 3–1 scoreline before a vintage comeback fueled by José Mourinho’s substitutes saved the team from embarrassment.

It was hardly a victory to celebrate, considering just how poor the team played—again—but Mbappé walked away with plenty of accolades to celebrate his 100th Champions League appearance.

Mbappé Rewrites the Champions League Record Books

Mbappé has received his fair share of criticism ever since he made the move to Real Madrid—and rightfully so. For all the goals he scores, the team looks no closer to winning a major trophy than it did two seasons ago during his debut campaign.

But his production on Europe’s grandest stage is simply undeniable. At 27 years old, Mbappé is already in the pantheon of the greatest Champions League forwards. His goal against Roma was his 72nd in the competition, pushing him further up the goalscoring charts.

All-Time Champions League Goalscorers

In 100 appearances, Mbappé is now the fifth all-time leading goalscorer in Champions League history. He has more goals to his name than the likes of Raúl, Thierry Henry and Mohamed Salah.

To make the momentous night even sweeter, 27-year-old Mbappé also became the youngest player to reach a century of appearances in the competition. Lionel Messi previously held the record when he made his 100th appearance at 28 years and 84 days old.

It’s only a matter of time before Mbappé becomes the fourth player ever to score 100 goals in the Champions League, joining Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi and Robert Lewandowski in the exclusive club. It also feels like just a matter of time before the France international overtakes at least two of those names in the record books.

The elephant in the room is Mbappé’s failure to ever win the Champions League. He came to Real Madrid to fulfill that dream, a sure bet considering the club lifted the prestigious trophy five times in the last decade alone.

Except nothing has gone right at the biggest club in the world since his arrival, and Wednesday’s match was the perfect microcosm of the team’s biggest problems.

Real Madrid’s Big Names Fail Over and Over Again

In the opening 45 minutes against Roma, Real Madrid managed a single shot on target—Mbappé’s goal. The visitors were either unimaginative with the ball or making the wrong decisions in the final third.

Mourinho’s double pivot of Aurélien Tchouaméni and Federico Valverde completed less passes than goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois in the first half. Marc Cucurella lost his head and pulled a strike wide instead of squaring the ball across the face of goal to an unmarked Mbappé. Vinícius Júnior did not attempt a single shot.

Those who do not watch Real Madrid’s La Liga matches might have been surprised, but those tuning in week in and week out know this is how the team plays: without cohesion, without structure and without intensity.

Once Los Blancos were trailing 3–1, who came off the pitch? Vinícius Jr and Denzel Dumfries led the way, before Cucurella, Tchouaméni and Yan Diomande ultimately followed.

The team then scored three unanswered goals to walk away with three points they had no business collecting. Who was at the center of the comeback? The player Real Madrid handed a massive six-year extension to this summer? The player who commanded a club-record fee this summer? The newly crowned World Cup winner?

No, it was Endrick, Carlos Espí and Arda Güler. Antonio Rüdiger also scored the winner, but the center back was carved open for sport inside his own half.

Don’t worry, though. The next big game Real Madrid plays, all the usual underperforming suspects will likely be back in the XI. And then the 15-time European champions will wonder why silverware is evading them.

Their solution? Probably just buying another left winger next summer, instead of taking a long, hard look at the mainstays failing over and over again.