Can Kylian Mbappe follow Cristiano Ronaldo’s Real Madrid path under Jose Mourinho?

Kylian Mbappe will begin his third season at Real Madrid with the club hoping he can repeat the trajectory Cristiano Ronaldo followed after a similarly trophy-light start in the Spanish capital.

Real Madrid are preparing for the 2026-27 campaign with ambitions of challenging for every major honour after appointing Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho. The experienced coach is expected to make Mbappe the central figure in his attacking plans, with the France international regarded as the team’s leading offensive threat.

Mbappe has scored prolifically since joining Real Madrid, but his first two seasons have not brought the major trophies the club and its supporters had expected. During that period, he helped the Spanish giants win the UEFA Super Cup and the Intercontinental Cup, but they did not lift either La Liga or the UEFA Champions League.

Ronaldo experienced a comparable beginning after moving to Real Madrid. The Portuguese forward also went without either of those major trophies during his first two seasons, before his fortunes changed in his third campaign, according to Spanish website Defensa Central.

The comparison extends beyond the honours won by the two players. Mbappe has now scored 86 goals for Real Madrid, the same total Ronaldo had reached by the beginning of his third season in the Spanish capital.

Ronaldo ended the 2009-10 season, his first with Real Madrid, without winning La Liga or the Champions League. The pattern continued in 2010-11, a campaign in which Mourinho took charge of the club.

The following season marked the start of a major trophy-winning period for Ronaldo. Under Mourinho, Real Madrid claimed La Liga in 2011-12 in a historic campaign known as the “record-breaking league”.

Real Madrid officials and supporters will hope Mbappe can produce a similar outcome in his third season and win his first major honours with the club. Mourinho’s return has added to the sense that the French striker could be approaching a decisive stage in his Real Madrid career.

Mbappe’s individual record has already been outstanding. He won the Pichichi award as La Liga’s leading scorer in both of his first two seasons with Real Madrid, including after scoring 25 goals in the 2025-26 edition. That record has established him among the club’s most prolific scorers, while his overall tally reached 86 goals after two seasons.

Those numbers leave Mbappe facing a significant challenge in the new campaign: he must turn personal success into collective achievement. He was unable to do so in the previous two seasons when it came to the biggest competitions.

Mourinho has expressed strong confidence in Mbappe’s ability and said he expects the forward to produce his best version of himself for Real Madrid this season.

The Portuguese manager described Mbappe as a player of an “exceptional level”. He added that he did not want to dwell too heavily on what happened last season, preferring instead to focus on what the France international can deliver in the next phase.

Mourinho also viewed Mbappe’s early arrival for pre-season as a positive sign. The manager considered it evidence of the player’s desire to prepare properly for the new campaign and work under the club’s new coaching staff.

Mbappe begins his third Real Madrid season under considerable pressure, but he is supported by an impressive goalscoring record and the confidence of his new manager. The coming campaign will show whether he can follow Ronaldo’s example and turn his third year at the club into the beginning of a new era of success and silverware.

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