Mbappe Braces as Real Madrid Survive Copa del Rey Scare; Ronaldo’s Record in Sight

Kylian Mbappe’s sensational 2025 continued on Wednesday night as he steered a rotated Real Madrid side to a hard-fought 3-2 victory over third-tier Talavera de la Reina. The win secures Madrid’s spot in the Copa del Rey round of 16, but the headlines belong to Mbappe’s pursuit of club history.

With his brace against Talavera, Mbappe has reached 58 goals in the 2025 calendar year. He is now just one goal shy of equaling Cristiano Ronaldo’s all-time Real Madrid record of 59 goals set in 2013. Mbappe will have the opportunity to break the record this Saturday in Madrid's final match of the year against Sevilla at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Despite the gap in league tiers, Talavera pushed the giants to the limit. Mbappe opened the scoring with a 41st-minute penalty following a controversial handball. Shortly after, a Manuel Farrando own-goal doubled Madrid's lead.

Talavera’s Nahuel Arroyo pulled one back in the 80th minute, igniting the 4,000-strong home crowd. A rare error from Talavera keeper Jaime Gonzalez allowed a tame Mbappe shot to slip through in the 83rd minute.

Gonzalo Di Renzo scored in stoppage time to make it 3-2, and goalkeeper Andriy Lunin was forced into a world-class save in the final seconds to prevent a historic equalizer.

In another Copa del Rey thriller, Antoine Griezmann led Atletico Madrid to a 3-2 win over Atletico Baleares. Griezmann netted twice, helping Diego Simeone’s men survive a late penalty-fueled surge from the fourth-tier side.