Mbappe challenged to match Hugo Sanchez’s rare Real Madrid feat

Kylian Mbappe begins his third La Liga season with Real Madrid at Espanyol on Saturday knowing a third consecutive Pichichi award would give him a scoring record Cristiano Ronaldo never achieved at the club.

The France forward has finished as the league’s leading scorer in each of his first two campaigns in Spain. He scored 31 goals in 2024-25, his first season with Real Madrid, before retaining the award with 25 goals in 2025-26.

At the age of 27, Mbappe has already established himself as La Liga’s dominant scorer since moving to the Spanish capital. However, the expectations surrounding him now extend beyond maintaining his usual goal ratio.

Spanish newspaper AS has identified a third successive Pichichi crown as Mbappe’s foremost individual challenge this season. If he succeeds, he would join an exclusive group in Real Madrid’s history and become the club’s first player to achieve the feat for almost 40 years.

The last Real Madrid player to win the award in three consecutive seasons was Hugo Sanchez, who finished as La Liga’s leading scorer in 1986, 1987 and 1988. Mbappe would therefore equal the Mexican striker’s achievement.

Even Ronaldo, one of Real Madrid’s greatest goalscorers, did not manage that particular sequence. He won the Pichichi three times during his career, but his successes in 2014 and 2015 were the only consecutive victories.

The oldest and most remarkable run in the club’s history belongs to Alfredo Di Stefano, who claimed the scoring title in four successive years from 1956 to 1959.

Mbappe is also 14 goals away from reaching 100 goals in all competitions for Real Madrid, adding another significant milestone to his targets for the campaign.

Yet the Pichichi award is only one part of the pressure facing the forward. Real Madrid ended each of the past two seasons without a major trophy, while the club endured a difficult period that included disagreements within the dressing room.

The Spanish giants have now begun a rebuilding phase following the arrival of Jose Mourinho this summer. Although Mbappe’s individual numbers remained strong during his opening two seasons, supporters expect more than personal success after two campaigns in which the team failed to deliver the anticipated collection of honours.

Winning the Pichichi for a third time would be an important achievement for Mbappe, but the wider expectation is that he will play a leading role in returning Real Madrid to the trophy stage.

His first opportunity comes against Espanyol on Saturday evening. The fixture carries an additional challenge because Mbappe has yet to score at Espanyol’s stadium.

That record places added focus on his opening appearance of the new season. It is the first step in a campaign that could see him reach a landmark even Ronaldo failed to attain during his time at Real Madrid.