Mbappe le magicien: Monaco teen climbing French charts
A little more than a year ago, Kylian Mbappe was a 17-year-old fresh off signing his first professional contract with Monaco.
Barely a blip on football's talent radar, Mbappe made just two starts in the league as he spent much of the campaign watching Leonardo Jardim's charges mired in a mercurial season, both domestically and on the continent.
Fast forward to Wednesday's Champions League quarter-final victory over Borussia Dortmund, and Mbappe is a star with 16 goals in 16 matches in all competitions.
Related: Mbappe, Falcao punish Dortmund, propel Monaco into semi-finals
In football, things can change in the blink of an eye, and few would know that better than Mbappe, who scored the opener at the Stade Louis II to give him five Champions League knockout goals.
Related - Watch: Mbappe, Falcao score early to sink Dortmund's ship
The Bondy-born, gazelle-like runner paired three goals against the Germans with one in each leg against Manchester City to go level with Atletico Madrid star Antoine Griezmann for French players in the knockout stages of Europe's top-tier competition.
| Rank | Player | Goals | Matches |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Karim Benzema | 13 | 38 |
| 2 | Thierry Henry | 12 | 36 |
| 3 | Zinedine Zidane | 8 | 31 |
| T4 | Sylvain Wiltord | 6 | 11 |
| T4 | David Trezeguet | 6 | 15 |
| T4 | Franck Ribery | 6 | 39 |
| T7 | Kylian Mbappe | 5 | 4 |
| T7 | Antoine Griezmann | 5 | 15 |
Not too shabby for a player who was in diapers for the exploits of many of the other names on this list.
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