Kylian Mbappe gave Jose Mourinho plenty to admire on his return to the Santiago Bernabeu, but even the Real Madrid manager appeared taken aback by the France captain’s latest attacking exhibition.
Mbappe scored a hattrick as Real Madrid swept aside Real Sociedad 4-1 in their second LaLiga match of the 2026/27 campaign, continuing his blistering start to the season and putting himself at the centre of another emphatic Madrid performance.
But while Mourinho was pleased with the collective display, it was Mbappe’s individual brilliance that drew the strongest reaction from the Portuguese.
“I always focus on the team over individuals, but what Mbappe did was Insane What a player”
The comment neatly captured a night in which Mbappe repeatedly found ways to hurt Sociedad, combining movement, composure and ruthless finishing to turn a competitive contest into a convincing victory.
Kylian Mbappe’s celebrating his hattrick in Real Madrid’s 4-1 LaLiga win over Real Sociedad. Photocredit: AFP
The 27-year-old had already threatened before eventually breaking the deadlock in the 40th minute.
After an early save from Alex Remiro, Mbappe was denied again from close range in the 44th minute as Sociedad remained in the contest.
But his persistence paid off when Federico Valverde released him inside the area. Mbappe took the pass in his stride before producing a composed left footed finish into the top-left corner to put Madrid ahead.
Sociedad responded almost immediately. A goalmouth scramble ended with Luka Sučić reacting quickest to fire into the bottom left corner, sending the teams into half time level.
Mbappe, however, would not remain frustrated for long after Arda Güler had earlier played him through only for Remiro to make another save, the Frenchman finally restored Madrid’s advantage in the 60th minute.
Jude Bellingham supplied the pass and Mbappe finished into the bottom-right corner, giving Remiro no chance.
Twenty minutes later came the third. this time Vinicius Junior provided the assist, finding Mbappe inside the area before the forward calmly lifted the ball beyond Remiro to complete his hattrick.
Vinícius then got on the scoresheet himself in the 68th minute, combining with Bellingham before producing an emphatic finish to make it 3-1.
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For all the quality in Madrid’s attack, Mourinho acknowledged that his side had initially struggled to impose themselves on Sociedad.
The visitors saw significant periods of possession and created enough problems to prevent the match from becoming an early procession.
Mourinho was particularly impressed by Sociedad’s approach in the opening stages.
“Real Sociedad really surprised us, they’re very good, and at first we found it very hard to press them.”
The Madrid boss also admitted that his team needed to improve after the interval.
“We got much better in the 2nd half”
That improvement was reflected in the scoreline, with Madrid turning a 1-1 half time stalemate into a three-goal victory.
Kylian Mbappe celebrates scoring. Photocredit: Cesar Cebolla
The hat-trick takes Mbappe to three goals in his first two LaLiga appearances of the new campaign.
It also extends a remarkable run of production for the Frenchman since joining Madrid.
The supplied milestone figures put Mbappe’s Real Madrid tally at 88 goals and 12 assists, underlining the extraordinary rate at which he has contributed since arriving in the Spanish capital.
His opening two league appearances this season have already provided three goals, suggesting there may be another prolific campaign ahead.
Mbappe had earlier scored twice in Madrid’s opening-day victory over Espanyol, meaning he has found the net in both league outings so far.
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The result also gave Mourinho a memorable return to the Santiago Bernabéu. The Portuguese coach oversaw another victory after Madrid’s opening-day success and maintained his side’s strong start to the campaign.
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