We simply can’t get enough of Oli McBurnie outshining Kylian Mbappe in La Liga

This is it, this is happening.

Oasis? Pfft. We’re over that already. No, the most sensational story of the week is Oli McBurnie enjoying a better start to life in La Liga than Kylian Mbappe. Who saw that coming?

It’s estimated that about 85,000 people came out to see Mbappe unveiled at the Bernabeu earlier this month. The World Cup winner is almost certainly the most anticipated arrival in Spain since his idol Cristiano Ronaldo a decade and a half ago.

The Premier League likes to bill itself as the best league in the world. We don’t have the time nor inclination to get into that right now, but what La Liga has always been able to boast has been star power. The natural home of the Galactico.

The likes of Gareth Bale, Neymar, Luis Suarez, Eden Hazard and Robert Lewandowski have all arrived in Spain since Ronaldo, and yet he remains the benchmark for feverously anticipated signings.

The fact that he went on to become Los Blancos’ all-time top goalscorer, averaged a better-than-goal-per-game record in La Liga over nine seasons, and fired them to four Champions League titles meant the hype was probably justified. No pressure, Kylian.

Matching Ronaldo’s achievements in the Spanish capital is surely an impossible task. Baby steps. First he needs to keep up with a lad from Leeds. And no, not Erling Haaland.

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McBurnie’s move to Las Palmas this summer is a wonderful oddity. The Yorkshireman, who has failed to score in 16 international appearances for Scotland, has a CV that includes Bradford City, Chester, Newport County, Bristol Rovers and Barnsley to name but a few.

He found a relatively settled home at Sheffield United, but his total goalscoring tally across five seasons at Bramall Lane– 29 – will realistically be better by Mbappe in his debut season at The Bernabeu. The Frenchman scored more than that in each of his last six seasons at PSG.

And yet it’s McBurnie that finds himself off the mark quicker in terms of goal contributions. He showed promise on his La Liga debut for the Canary Island club, a 2-2 draw with Sevilla, after which he was gifted an apparently much-needed bottle of aftersun from an enthusiastic group of fans.

McBurnie followed that up with an assist for Sandro Ramirez (yes, that one) in a 2-1 defeat to Leganes before once again having a direct hand against Real Madrid. After just four minutes, he did superbly to bamboozle Antonio Rudiger, dragging the ball out of reach before spotting the run of Alberto Moleiro, with a deft pass into the box setting up the No.10 to do the rest.

Alberto Moleiro stuns Real Madrid out of the blocks! 😱

Las Palmas take an early lead 🟡 pic.twitter.com/NUHQaweK9g

— Premier Sports (@PremSportsTV) August 29, 2024

That’s the stuff dreams are made of.

Real Madrid fought back to claim a 1-1 draw, equalising midway through the second half via a Vinicius Junior penalty. But still Mbappe awaits his first goal or assist in the Spanish top flight.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side have now dropped points in two of their three opening fixtures and find themselves four points behind early pace-setters Barcelona. We’re absolutely sure that the Spanish daily papers with approach this situation with their famous patience and level-headed analysis.

It’s very early days but the early evidence is that Ancelotti has some tinkering to do. Replacing the metronomic midfield presence of Toni Kroos is one thing, and getting such a stacked attack clicking is another.

But you’d be very daft to draw sweeping conclusions just yet. Mbappe remains a world-class player and the overwhelming likelihood is that sooner rather than later he’s going to start totting up goals and assists for fun, such is the quality of the players he’s surrounded with.

For now, though, Mbappe finds himself having notched zero goals and zero assists. That’s two fewer goal contributions than McBurnie. Forgive us for finding that very, very funny.