Kylian Mbappe is currently the hottest property in European football at the moment, unleashing his talent on the Champions League at just 18-years old, but how does he compare to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo at the same age?
The striking sensation netted his fifth Champions League for Monaco in the last round, aged just 18 years and 120 days, just three minutes into their second leg with Borussia Dortmund.
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The goal made Mbappe the first player to net in each of his first four knockout games in the competition, following goals at Dortmund, and a goal in each of their last-16 clashes with Manchester City.
But how does he compare to Ronaldo and Messi at the same age?
At the same age, both players had achieved relatively little compared to the young Frenchman.
By the time Messi had reached 18 years and 120 days on October 22, 2005, he had made it to four UEFA Champions League appearances for Barcelona. However, in those games, the Argentine failed to register a goal. He wasn’t to wait long for that first goal, with it coming against Panathinaikos on November 2 of the same year.
Ronaldo reached the Frenchman’s age by June 5, 2003, but had had even less Champions League experience than both Messi and Mbappe, with just one substitute appearance to his name, alongside two UEFA Cup appearances.
It took even longer, almost four years in fact, for Ronaldo to register his first goal in the competition, with a brace in Manchester United’s 7-1 thrashing of AS Roma.
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By 19, which Mbappe won’t even reach until December, Messi had just a solitary Champions League goal, whereas Ronaldo was still to register.
He will have some way to go, however, to match the exploits of the likes of Patrick Kluivert, who, just six months older than Mbappe is now, netted a dramatic late goal to ensure Ajax’s golden generation won the 1995 Champions League against AC Milan.
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