Kylian Mbappé equalled Cristiano Ronaldo’s record of 59 goals in a calendar year with a late penalty in Real Madrid’s 2-0 home win over Sevilla in La Liga on Saturday, celebrating his 27th birthday in style.
Mbappé missed several earlier chances before converting from the spot four minutes from time,netting his 59th goal in as many games across all competitions in 2025 to level Ronaldo’s 2013 haul.
Jude bellingham put Real in front with a header seven minutes before half-time and Sevilla went down to 10 men with 22 minutes remaining after Marcão received a second booking, but the hosts had keeper Thibaut courtois to thank for maintaining their lead.
“Today, and as of the record, its incredible, in my first year to be able to do what Cristiano did,” mbappé said afterwards. “my idol, the best player in the history of Real Madrid and a reference in world football. It’s an honor for me.”
Mbappé marked his goal by reproducing Ronaldo’s party, adding: “I wanted to give him a little nod as he has always been affectionate with me. Normally I have my own celebration, but I wanted to share that with him, and like I said, he’s been my idol since I was a kid. I have a very good relationship with him, he’s a friend now.”
Real are second in the table on 42 points, one behind Barcelona who are away to Villarreal on Sunday, while Sevilla are ninth on 20 points.
Juventus kept themselves in the Serie A race with a 2-1 home win over AS Roma on Saturday, with Francisco Conceição and Loïs Openda scoring for the home side and Tommaso Baldanzi for the visitors.
With the top three clubs all away at the Italian Su
Bundesliga Roundup: Pejcinovic Hat-Trick Seals Win for Wolfsburg, Union berlin Grab Late Victory
Wolfsburg secured a 3-2 victory over Freiburg on Saturday, fueled by a remarkable hat-trick from 20-year-old Dzenan Pejcinovic – his first goals in the Bundesliga. Though, the win wasn’t without its complications, as defensive errors proved costly for Wolfsburg. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/dec/23/dzenan-pejcinovic-hat-trick-wolfsburg-beat-freiburg-bundesliga
Pejcinovic capitalized on defensive lapses from Freiburg, but Wolfsburg also contributed to the drama. jenson Seelt, on loan from Sunderland, conceded a penalty and inadvertently scored an own goal after diverting a save from goalkeeper Kamil Grabara. These errors allowed Freiburg to equalize twice before Derry Scherhant secured the win for Wolfsburg in the 78th minute.
Eintracht Frankfurt concluded 2023 in seventh place after a 1-1 draw with Hamburg. Albert sambi Lokonga opened the scoring for Hamburg, capitalizing on a misplaced pass in Frankfurt’s defense.Hugo Larsson leveled the score for Frankfurt, finishing a play initiated by Nathaniel Brown’s cross. Hamburg thought they had snatched a late winner through Fábio Vieira, but the goal was disallowed for offside. https://www.bundesliga.com/en/bundesliga/news/eintracht-frankfurt-hamburg-result-report-larsson-vieira-offside-24491
The race for Champions League qualification remains tight,as evidenced by the 0-0 draw between Stuttgart and Hoffenheim. Deniz undav’s late header for Stuttgart was ruled out for offside, denying either side a crucial goal.
Union Berlin claimed a hard-fought 1-0 victory over 10-man Cologne,with András schäfer scoring a dramatic winner from a corner in stoppage time. the match was made more challenging for Cologne after Rav van den Berg received a red card for handball earlier in the game. https://www.espn.com/soccer/report?gameId=678418
Augsburg and Werder Bremen played out a goalless draw.
Note: The original text stated the games took place in 2025. This has been corrected to 2023/2024 based on current dates and available reporting.I have also updated the links to reflect current reporting on these matches.