Jose Mourinho believes Kylian Mbappe is “hungry to make history” at Real Madrid after the forward scored a hat-trick in their 4-1 LaLiga win over Real Sociedad on Wednesday.
Mbappe opened the scoring before Luka Sucic equalised shortly after, leaving the sides level at half-time in Real Madrid’s first home game of the season.
The France international then struck twice more after the break, while Vinicius Junior also found the net as Real Madrid secured a second successive victory under Mourinho.
“This guy [Mbappe] is incredible,” Mourinho said after the game.
“I’m happy that he made history at the World Cup because there were 25 world champion players, but only one is for eternity in football, the player with most goals at a World Cup.
“He looks hungry to make history with Real Madrid.”
Mbappe did not score in Real Madrid’s 2-1 win over Espanyol on the opening weekend, although he played a part in setting up Carlos Espi’s late winner.
Mourinho was asked how many goals he expects Mbappe to score this season, particularly given that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo both scored more than 45 LaLiga goals in a single season during his previous spell in charge of Real Madrid.
“If it’s 60, 40, 50? I can’t say,” Mourinho said. “I’d prefer 40 goals but with trophies, or 40 goals with a lot of work.
“I’m very happy with him, technically there’s nothing to say obviously, but in the group, he’s taking responsibility, he got back two days early from his holiday.
“Today I left him on the field for 90 minutes, I thought he might score four.”
Mourinho happy with second-half response
The result also marked an encouraging return to the Bernabeu for Mourinho, although the home supporters expressed their frustration during a first half in which Real Sociedad competed strongly.
“We know the Bernabeu, the players know it, I know it,” Mourinho said.
“Thankfully they’re like that, because it’s a consequence of history.
“Real Madrid always have great teams and players, and the fans want more. They pay to have their emotions, their happiness, their frustration.”
Mourinho was ultimately pleased with the response from his players and believes Real Madrid will regularly produce high-scoring performances.
“In the end we got what we wanted, the three points, and the fans went home with a taste of what we can do,” he added.
“Scoring three, four, five [goals], we’ll do that a lot.”
Real Sociedad manager Pellegrino Matarazzo felt his side could take encouragement from their performance despite suffering their second defeat of the season.
“Today we showed that at the Bernabeu, in the first 45 to 60 minutes, we were able to compete against a world-class team,” Matarazzo said.
“The players are gaining experience, players who are new to the team. So there are a lot of positives that we take away.”
