The new striker of the Spanish Royal team, Kylian Mbappe, emphasized that Cristiano Ronaldo is still a legend of Real Madrid and of football, even though he just experienced an unsuccessful Euro 2024.
Ronaldo, 39, failed to score in five games as Portugal lost on penalties to France in the quarter-finals after a goalless 120 minutes. Ronaldo has played in all five of Portugal’s games in the continent’s major football campaign. But for the first time in 11 appearances at a major tournament, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner failed to score in the group stage.
Ronaldo’s luck ran out in the knockout stages, as he missed a penalty in extra time in the shootout win over Slovenia in the round of 16. Ronaldo’s trademark penalty was saved brilliantly by goalkeeper Jan Oblak. Ronaldo then made amends in the subsequent shootout, as Portugal won 3-0.
Ronaldo continued his goalless run in 120 minutes in the penalty shootout defeat to Mbappe ‘s France in the quarter-finals. He scored on a lucky penalty, but Joao Felix’s miss gave Les Bleus a 5-3 win.
Despite the Portuguese star’s poor performance at Euro, new signing Mbappe reaffirmed that Ronaldo is still a Real Madrid legend. Photo: GETTY.
Despite his idol’s misfortune and decline, during his official presentation at the Bernabeu stadium with 80,000 fans on the afternoon of July 16, Mbappe affirmed that Ronaldo is still a legend of Real Madrid and football in general. The French star shared with Madrid Xtra: “What happened at EURO will not change the symbol of Cristiano Ronaldo for the king of football . Ronaldo is still a legend of Real Madrid”.
Notably, Kylian Mbappe himself endured a poor Euro 2024 , scoring once and assisting twice in five games as Didier Deschamps’ side lost 2-1 in the semi-finals to eventual champions Spain.
The numbers speak for themselves, as Ronaldo remains a Real Madrid legend, as the club’s all-time leading scorer is also the top scorer in UEFA Champions League history with 140 goals in 183 games. The majority of those goals came during his nine seasons at Los Blancos between 2009 and 2018: 105 goals in 101 games and four trophies.
Striker Mbappe officially debuted for Real Madrid at the Bernabeu stadium with 85,000 fans. Photo: GETTY.
Kylian Mbappe has also had an impressive record in the competition, scoring 48 goals in 73 games. The 25-year-old has scored the majority of his goals (42 in 64 games) while playing for PSG. But unlike Ronaldo, he has yet to win the Champions League.
Mbappe’s most successful seasons in the competition have seen him score eight goals twice (2023-24 and 2020-21). Ronaldo, meanwhile, has scored at least 10 goals in the competition – all for Los Blancos – in an incredible seven consecutive seasons. Ronaldo’s most impressive campaign was when he scored 17 goals in 11 games as Los Blancos won the title in 2013-14.
