Kylian Mbappe’s Real Madrid numbers reveal the cost of his relentless scoring threat

Kylian Mbappe has scored 13 goals in La Liga this season but also shares the lead for the most big chances missed across Europe’s five major leagues.

The Real Madrid forward has failed to convert 16 clear opportunities, the same number as Everton striker Thierno Barry, according to a report by Sport.

Mbappe is second among players from Europe’s top five leagues for goals in all competitions, with 17. Only Raphinha, on 18, has scored more.

Within La Liga, Mbappe’s total is seven higher than the next player on the list. Real Sociedad forward Orri Oskarsson has missed nine big chances, while Karim Adeyemi is third with eight. Raphinha, Lamine Yamal and Villarreal’s Ayoze Perez have each missed seven.

The figures underline the contrast in Mbappe’s game. He can create a goal from almost nothing, particularly when cutting in from the left to shoot from outside the area, but his high volume of chances also leaves room for greater efficiency.

Across Europe, Roma’s Donyell Malen leads the Serie A standings with 15 missed chances. In Ligue 1, Nice forward Elye Wahi has missed nine, while Germany’s Bundesliga figures show eight each for VfB Stuttgart’s Ermedin Demirovic, Borussia Dortmund’s Serhou Guirassy and Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane.

A pattern stretching back to Paris Saint-Germain

This is not a new feature of Mbappe’s career. During the 2024-2025 La Liga season, when he won the Golden Boot with 31 goals, he also topped the league’s missed-big-chances table.

According to FotMob, he missed 29 clear chances, compared with 23 for Robert Lewandowski and 20 apiece for Alexander Sørloth and Raphinha.

Mbappe led the same statistic again in 2025-2026, missing 21 chances. Ferran Torres was next with 20, followed by Georges Mikautadze and Vedat Muriqi on 19 each.

His 16 misses at the start of this season therefore continue a trend from his first two campaigns at Real Madrid. He is five short of matching last season’s total.

The pattern also appeared during his time at Paris Saint-Germain. In the 2022-2023 Ligue 1 season, Mbappe missed 28 big chances, two more than Folarin Balogun.

Opta defines a big chance as a situation offering a particularly strong opportunity to score, such as a one-on-one with the goalkeeper or an unchallenged shot from close range. Penalties are included, and the chance may still end with a save rather than a shot off target.

Raphinha comparison

FotMob’s expected-goals figures provide another contrast between Mbappe and Raphinha in La Liga. Mbappe has scored 13 times from an expected-goals total of 14.6, while Barcelona forward Raphinha has scored 15 from 11.2 expected goals.

That means Mbappe is 1.6 goals below his expected total, whereas Raphinha is 3.8 above his. Expected goals estimate the likelihood of a shot becoming a goal using factors including distance and angle.

Mbappe has scored in seven consecutive games, demonstrating the attacking value he brings to Real Madrid. However, the number of opportunities he receivesand missesmeans his finishing remains an area where more can be demanded.