Mbappé Scores Again as Race for Top Scorer Loses Excitement
Listen to the story
French striker Kylian Mbappé continues to dominate this football season, according to a report from the Spanish newspaper AS. His performance is affecting the race for the Pichichi, the award given to La Liga's top scorer.
The report compares Mbappé to Tadej Pogačar, the cycling champion who often wins races with ease. Just as Pogačar has little real competition, Mbappé's goal-scoring lead is making the Pichichi race less exciting, the article suggests.
In a recent match, Mbappé's team won by a large margin. However, the report describes this victory as "maquillada," meaning it looked better than the overall team performance actually was, largely thanks to Mbappé's individual goals.
The report also notes that Mbappé has been publicly supportive of coach José Mourinho, often called "Mou" by fans and media. The headline describes Mbappé as "campaigning" for Mourinho, though the summary does not give further details about what this support involves.
Overall, the report paints a picture of a season where Mbappé's individual brilliance is overshadowing other storylines, from the scoring race to his team's collective form. Fans and pundits are watching closely to see if any other striker can close the gap before the season progresses further.
Vocabulary10 words
- Pichichi
- a prize for the football player who scores the most goals in a season
- campaign
- to work publicly to support a person or cause
- competition
- a contest between people trying to do better than each other
- margin
- the difference between the winning and losing amount
- victory
- a win in a game or contest
- maquillada
- made to appear better than it really is
- coach
- the person who trains and leads a sports team
- overshadow
- to make something else seem less important
- striker
- a football player whose main job is to score goals
- pundit
- an expert who gives opinions about a subject
Quiz
Answer key
1. A cycling champion who wins easily 2. The win looked better than the team's real performance 3. Coach José Mourinho
Fill-in-the-blank listening
Play the audio again and fill in the missing words as you listen.
French striker Kylian Mbappé continues to _____ this football season, according to a report from the Spanish newspaper AS.
His performance is affecting the race for the _____, the award given to La Liga's top scorer.
The report compares Mbappé to Tadej Pogačar, the cycling _____ who often wins races with ease.
Just as Pogačar has little real competition, Mbappé's goal-scoring _____ is making the Pichichi race less exciting.
In a recent match, Mbappé's team won by a large _____.
The report describes this victory as looking better than the overall team _____ actually was.
The report also notes that Mbappé has been publicly _____ of coach José Mourinho.
The headline describes Mbappé as "_____" for Mourinho.
Fans and pundits are watching closely to see if any other _____ can close the gap.
Discussion questions
- Do you think one player dominating a scoring race makes football less interesting to watch? Why or why not?
- How do individual star players affect the overall perception of a team's performance?
- Why might comparisons to other dominant athletes, like cyclists, be useful in sports journalism?
- Have you followed any similar situations where one athlete's dominance changed how fans viewed a competition?