The Frenchman Kylian Mbappé (27 years and 298 days) became, when lined up in the match between Real Madrid and Roma, the youngest player in history to reach 100 matches played in the Champions League, surpassing the record of the Argentine Leo Messi (28 years and 84 days).
Coincidentally, the Argentine had also reached that figure against Roma in September 2015, during a visit by Barcelona to the Olimpico that ended in a 1-1 draw, with goals from Luis Suárez and Florenzi.
Now, Mbappé breaks the tie in the standings with historical players of the top European competition who remained at 99 matches, such as former Madridista José María Gutiérrez 'Guti', the German Bastian Schweinsteiger, and the Croatian Ivan Rakitic.
The French forward made his Champions League debut on September 27, 2016, more than ten years ago. Monaco hosted Bayer Leverkusen, and Mbappé, at just 17 years old, stepped onto the field in the 77th minute, replacing Bakayoko. The match ended in a 1-1 draw and Kylian didn't score, but he did on the day of his first start.
After that, he has added another 99 matches between Monaco, PSG, and Real Madrid, in which he has scored 71 goals. If he scores this Wednesday against Roma, he will tie with Raúl González on the top scorers list and will stand alone in fifth place historically, just behind Cristiano, Messi, Lewandowski, and Benzema.
With Mbappé, there are now 64 players who have surpassed the hundred matches played in the Champions League.
The record is held by the Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo, with 187 matches, followed by the Spaniard Iker Casillas (181) and the German Thomas Müller (165). EFE
