Kylian Mbappé beats Messi’s Champions League record

Real Madrid were eliminated from the Champions League on Wednesday night, losing to Bayern Munich in a game that will go down as an all-time classic. Trailing 2-1 from the first leg, Madrid twice took the lead in Munich but fell to a 6-4 aggregate defeat.

Among Real Madrid’s goalscorers on the night was Kylian Mbappé, who notched his 15th Champions League goal of the 2025/26 season with a coolly taken finish. Mbappé has been in electrifying form in the UCL this year and ends the campaign with a historic tally.

Mbappé is one of only four players to score 15 goals in a single season of the Champions League/European Cup. He joins Karim Benzema, Robert Lewandowski and Cristiano Ronaldo in that exclusive list, although the latter has hit that mark three times. Mbappé has also scored 23 LaLiga goals and a two in the Copa del Rey, putting him on 40 goals from 39 Real Madrid games this season.

Although the Frenchman’s 15 Champions League goals falls short of Ronaldo’s record, he has managed to beat the best single-season tally from Lionel Messi. The Argentine’s 14 goals in the 2011/12 season with Barcelona remains his best return.

There was one more piece of history on the night for Mbappé. With a first half goal at the Allianz Arena, Mbappé becomes the first player to score 10 away goals in a single Champions League season. That achievement was aided by his group stage exploits, scoring four on the road against Olympiacos and three in the game against Kairat Almaty. The record will be of little interest to Mbappé after Wednesday’s loss but it is a milestone that is unlikely to be bettered anytime soon.

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