Jose Mourinho weighs in on Kylian Mbappe’s Cristiano Ronaldo comparisons and expectations at Real Madrid

Jose Mourinho has returned to Real Madrid for a second stint at the helm of the Spanish giants, taking charge of a superstar-laden squad featuring Kylian Mbappe. With the French forward operating as the focal point of the attack, Mourinho weighed in on comparisons between Mbappe and Cristiano Ronaldo while outlining his expectations for his new star striker.

Mourinho originally arrived at the Santiago Bernabeu in 2010 fresh off a UEFA Champions League title with Inter Milan, joining a club stacked with world-class talent. During his initial three-year tenure, he guided Cristiano Ronaldo to unprecedented goalscoring heights, though dressing room friction and a shortage of European silverware ultimately defined his 2013 departure.

Now back at Los Blancos with Florentino Perez still serving as club president, Mourinho inherits Mbappe as his primary goalscorer, a role the forward lost no time stepping into. In Real Madrid’s first home match of the campaign, Mbappe showcased his world-class ability by netting a hat-trick in a 4-1 victory against Real Sociedad to move atop the La Liga scoring charts.

Jose Mourinho on Mbappe

Asked in his post-match press conference whether the hunger for success between Cristiano Ronaldo and Mbappe was comparable, Mourinho offered a direct response: “I don’t like comparing players, but this guy is incredible. I’m so glad he made history in the World Cup because there are 25 World Cup-winning players, but only one is for football’s eternity—the one who has the most goals, who made that history. He has a huge hunger to make history with Real Madrid.“

Mourinho was reminded that under his guidance, Ronaldo never dipped below 50 goals in a season, serving as the club’s ultimate attack producer. While the Portuguese manager anticipates a massive contribution from Mbappe, he emphasized a preference for collective team achievement over individual stat-padding.

“Kylian is an incredible player, he’s absolutely incredible. After that, whether he scores 50 or 60, well, I don’t know. I’d rather have 40 with a lot of hard work for the team and titles, than 60 without titles looking only at himself. I am very happy with him, the group is making the team grow. He came back two days before his vacation ended, and that’s a positive. I left him on the pitch for the 90 minutes to see if he’d score four,” Mourinho concluded.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s performance under Jose Mourinho

Cristiano Ronaldo produced some of the most lethal goalscoring form of his career at Real Madrid during Mourinho’s three-year tenure as head coach. The forward surpassed 50 goals in all three campaigns, setting an extraordinary statistical standard even as European trophies proved elusive.

In the 2010-11 season, Ronaldo logged 53 goals and 18 assists across 54 appearances in all competitions, a mark he eclipsed in 2011-12 with 60 goals and 15 assists in 55 matches. During Mourinho’s final year in 2012-13, the Portuguese superstar recorded 55 goals and 13 assists in 55 games, capping off a remarkable total of 168 goals and 46 assists across 164 matches.

Despite those individual numbers, silverware came sparingly under Mourinho, with the club claiming the 2010-11 Copa del Rey, the 2011-12 La Liga title, and the 2012 Supercopa de Espana. In the Champions League, Real Madrid reached three consecutive semifinals under Mourinho but fell short of the final each time, suffering exits against FC Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Borussia Dortmund.