Kylian Mbappe is the best player in LaLiga

It wasn’t easy, it wasn’t comfortable, and it wasn’t straightforward — but Real Madrid have managed to extinguish a growing crisis and close out 2025 with three straight victories. After back-to-back defeats to Celta de Vigo and Manchester City, Real won 2-1 at Alavés before prevailing 3-2 against third-tier CF Talavera in the Copa del Rey. Los Blancos took the lead before halftime after the hosts were deemed to have handled the ball in their penalty box, with Kylian Mbappé stepping up and slotting home from the penalty spot. They doubled their lead shortly after as Mbappé zig-zagged through an array of opponents and fired a low cross towards the near post, which was deflected into the back of the net for an own goal.

Talavera would send their stadium into pandemonium after pulling one back in the 80th minute, but Mbappé would put the game to rest in the 88th minute by launching a shot from outside the penalty arc into the back of the net. He was back at it again in the following match, doubling the lead from the penalty spot to secure a 2-0 win against Sevilla. Real Madrid manager Xabi Alonso has survived – for now – and once again, he’s done so thanks to the individual brilliance of his French superstar.

Born and raised in Paris, Mbappé made the move to AS Monaco in 2013, where, after leading the principality side to their first Ligue 1 title in 17 years, he returned to his hometown and joined Paris Saint-Germain. It didn’t take long for him to make his €180 million price tag look like an absolute bargain, with Mbappé racking up 256 goals and 110 assists in 308 appearances for Les Parisiens, becoming a constant headache for opposing coaches like Paulo Fonseca and Thomas Grønnemark. At the international level, he has led France to the gold medal in the 2018 FIFA World Cup Final and the silver in the 2022 World Cup Final, emerging as a role model for burgeoning young center forwards like MLS Next Pro Golden Boot winner Jason Shokalook.

“Honestly, I think that one of the things that I see and that I can take away from Mbappé is his calmness in high pressure moments,” stated Shokalook in an exclusive Managing Madrid interview. “I think that a big one was in the 2022 FIFA World Cup Final between France and Argentina – the crowd is going crazy, everyone’s screaming, and you can see that he’s just so composed in his own mind and in his body,” added Shokalook, who signed a professional MLS contract with Chicago Fire’s first team this month.

“He looks very relaxed but tense, and that’s something that’s super inspirational. In my career, I really hope to be put into a lot of high-pressure moments, and for the team to count on me like Mbappé. He’s just an amazing finisher and is relentless with his runs in behind, and even if he scores twice, he’s not going to stop there and just relentless with the runs in behind in how he goes, and if he scores 2 goals, he’s not gonna stop there – he wants to score 3, 4 or 5 goals, which is very inspiring for me.”

It was only a matter of time before Mbappé made the move to Real Madrid, and in 2023, he did just that. But despite a superb rookie campaign that saw him edge Robert Lewandowski to the Pichichi award and score a whopping 44 goals and 5 assists in 59 appearances, Mbappé was the butt of jokes rather than the recipient of well-deserved acclaim – unlike his former club PSG, who had won their maiden Champions League trophy – Mbappé had failed to win a single major trophy in his debut season in Spain.

This season, however, Mbappé has somehow gotten even more deadly in the final third. He’s racked up a barely believable 28 goals and 4 assists in 23 appearances, and his 17 goals put him six ahead of second-placed FerranTorres in the LaLiga scoring charts. Whenever it seems that Alonso is on the hot seat, Mbappé has stepped up and delivered for his Basque manager. After Real lost 5-2 at Atlético Madrid, Mbappé stepped up with a hat trick at Kairat Almaty. When Real Madrid found themselves in desperate need of a win after a loss at Liverpool and stalemates at Rayo Vallecano and Elche, Mbappé delivered with four goals in a 4-3 win at Olympiacos, before following that up with a penalty equalizer at Girona and a brace and an assist in a 3-0 vs. Athletic Club.

After being directly involved in each of their goals in three straight matches, Mbappé was subdued in a 2-0 loss to Celta de Vigo before returning a week later and opening the scoring in a 2-1 win at Alavés, followed by a brace at Talavera and a goal vs. Sevilla. It’s these stellar displays that have seen the likes of Danny Higginbotham and Nico Cantor shower Mbappé with adulation and tip him as an early favorite for the 2026 Ballon d’Or award. 1.5 years after departing the Parc de Princes as PSG’s all-time leading scorer, Mbappé finds himself just three goals away from surpassing Olivier Giroud as France’s all-time leading scorer. And whilst he’s 377 goals away from matching his idol Cristiano Ronaldo as Los Blancos’ all-time leading scorer, he’s nevertheless off to a good start after equalling Ronaldo’s 59-goal haul in 2013 for the most goals for Real Madrid in a calendar year.

All signs point to Mbappé having a major role to play at the 2026 FIFA World Cup and potentially guiding France to their third star. He’s already scored more goals (4) in the World Cup Final than any other player, whilst only Miroslav Klose (16), Ronaldo (15), Gerd Müller (14), Just Fontaine (13) and Lionel Messi (13) have scored more in the World Cup. But before Mbappé can think about facing off in his third World Cup, he’s going to have to continue stepping up and dragging Real Madrid to the finish line.