Mbappé shows a terrifying face with Real Madrid: Raphinha raises the flag of defiance
France's Kylian Mbappé continues to produce exceptional performances with Real Madrid, having entered his third season in the Royal Club's shirt in the best technical form of his career, achieving unprecedented goalscoring numbers, at a time when Brazil's Raphinha is emerging as his main rival for the top of the scorers' charts.
According to the Spanish newspaper "AS", Mbappé is living through one of the finest spells of his career. He has 17 goals in 16 matches this season, and he opened his third campaign at Real Madrid by scoring in seven games on the bounce, the best run of his career.
The numbers tell the story. Mbappé scored at a rate of 0.75 goals per match in his first season, a figure that climbed to 0.95 last term. This season he has cracked the barrier of a goal a game for the first time, hitting 1.06.
With 103 goals in 119 matches since joining Real Madrid, Mbappé has become the Royal club's most prominent attacking weapon, accounting for 38.64% of his team's goals.
That improved rate this season has pushed the likelihood of him scoring in any given match to 68%. In other words, he finds the net in two out of every three games he plays.
Raphinha's effectiveness
Against that blistering start, Brazil's Raphinha stands out as the only man capable of matching the French star in the race for goals. He has 19 in 14 matches to sit top of La Liga's scoring charts.
Mbappé converts 20% of his shots into goals, yet even that has not been enough so far to overhaul the Barcelona captain. Raphinha looks his most prominent rival, alongside Harry Kane and Erling Haaland, in the chase for the top scorer awards.
A study by the company "Bettor" gave Mbappé a 6.8% chance of scoring in the last Clásico, among 42 players nominated to find the net once the goalkeepers on both teams' lists were excluded.
Raphinha, playing at his own stadium, carried a 7.41% probability by contrast. Both men scored a single goal when the match was done, but the Real Madrid player went back to the Spanish capital with the three points.
The first half of the season is now behind them. Both players want to enter the final stage of 2027 with a clear aim: to keep improving their numbers and swelling their goal tallies.
Mbappé, forever raising his returns on past seasons, wants his goals to drive Real Madrid towards silverware. The French star keeps pushing past his limits and shattering his own records.
