November 2, 07:34IOL

Real Madrid defeated Santander, and Mbappé scored after a controversy related to China

Kylian Mbappé managed to emerge from a difficult week by scoring a penalty that helped Real Madrid secure a 3-0 victory over Racing Santander on Sunday. Earlier, the French forward nearly won the Ballon d'Or over Harry Kane of Bayern Munich on Monday, and was subsequently forced to apologize following a social media storm triggered by a video in which he joked about former Chinese leader Mao Zedong.

Due to the fallout from this incident, the Real Madrid match, along with other Spanish games over the weekend, was not broadcast on state television in China. Jude Bellingham and Jan Diodmand were also effective, allowing Real Madrid to maintain third place in the league within three points of leaders Barcelona, who crushed Alaves 6-1 on Saturday.

José Mourinho's team won six consecutive matches across all competitions and trails their city rivals Atlético Madrid by only one point; Atlético beat Levante 2-0. Mourinho told reporters: 'We were very strong in the first half, we came out to play well.' He added that the team is developing and playing decently, but believes they could have scored more goals by taking available chances.

Mbappé earned a soft penalty after falling under slight pressure from Matteo Prati and confidently converted it, putting Madrid ahead at the San Dinero stadium in the 11th minute. This was the young player's twelfth goal in the league this season, and he was only behind Rafinha of Barcelona with fifteen goals in the scoring table.

'Madrid' controlled the game, and a precise pass from Arda Güler allowed Bellingham to go one-on-one with the goalkeeper, after which the Englishman shot past the keeper and scored, reaching his 50th goal since joining Real Madrid in 2023. Bellingham told Real Madrid TV: 'Reaching 50 goals with Real Madrid is something special.' He also noted: 'We played very well. It was very important to win after the victory at Camp Nou (against Barça last weekend), so we are very happy.'

Güler missed a good chance for the third goal after Mbappé set him up, before the record transfer Diodmand scored from outside the penalty area. The home side started the second half well, putting pressure on Madrid, which caused dissatisfaction for Mourinho, who shouted at his players. However, Madrid regained control and created several more chances, including Mbappé's shot hitting the post and a Bellingham attempt saved by Racing's goalkeeper Hulen Agirresabal.

'Racing' earned a penalty after Aurelien Tchouameni of Madrid touched the ball in the box, but this moment was disallowed after a VAR check. During added time, Bellingham's second goal was annulled due to an offside he had before scoring, and Endrick shot wide from distance.

The hosts, Racing, who are in 16th place and returned to La Liga for the first time in 14 seasons, suffered their first home defeat this campaign. Earlier, Sevilla, in sixth place, lost to Getafe 3-1, allowing Getafe to move into the middle of the table.

Racing's coach José Alberto told DAZN: 'I am annoyed (by the penalty awarded to Madrid). Obviously, we faced a great Madrid, which put a lot of pressure on us during the first half and was much better than us, but everything depended on the conditions, and the first goal was a penalty.'

Valencia, in 19th place, beat Elche 1-0 thanks to a well-executed goal by Omar Sadik, approaching the safety zone after a poor start to the season. In other matches, Athletic Bilbao, in seventh place, defeated fifth-placed Real Sociedad 2-1 in an exciting Basque derby at San Mamés stadium. Iñaki Williams opened the scoring early for Athletic, and Luka Sucic equalized after a shot from the penalty area. Alex Berenger controversially restored Athletic's lead shortly before halftime with a penalty, after John Aramburu was deemed to have fouled Nico Williams, although Williams seemed to have won the ball. Aramburu complained to DAZN: 'I think it's incredible that such a penalty is awarded when I touched the ball, even Nico said so.'

The goalkeeper for Los Leones, the Spanish World Cup winner Unai Simon, made several brilliant saves, securing three points for his team.

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iol.co.zaOctober 26, 07:30

Mbappé scores his hundredth goal of the season as Real Madrid beats Barcelona 2-1 in El Clásico

Kylian Mbappé scored twice, securing a 2-1 victory for Real Madrid over Barcelona in the El Clásico match on Sunday at Camp Nou, thereby reducing the three-point deficit.

The French superstar Mbappé opened the scoring before halftime and later scored late, giving Barcelona its first home defeat of the campaign after Raphinha equalized for the champions.

Real Madrid remains in third place in the table, trailing Atlético Madrid and Barcelona under Hansi Flick, who won her first nine matches before this week.

The Catalans suffered their second consecutive defeat after losing to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Coaches' Comments

Mourinho was very pleased with his team's performance in the first El Clásico under Real's management. He told reporters: "My team played extraordinarily, very organized, with good concentration, with courage playing defensively against a team that presses heavily."

He continued: "We had chances for a second goal... obviously, Barça had a strong reaction, but we remained calm and organized, and when the score was 1-1, we never lost composure."

Before Flick arrived, Barcelona had won six of the previous seven El Clásicos, but they looked surprisingly sluggish against Mourinho's team.

Flick commented on his team's game, noting: "You saw today, we lacked freshness. This is the first loss in La Liga; we won nine in a row. This is what we need to see. Losses are part of the game. We must analyze, we must improve. Right now, it is important that we react."

Match Progression

The 'White Lions', without injured winger Vinícius Júnior, secured their fifth consecutive win in all tournaments and found their place under the guidance of veteran Portuguese coach Mourinho. After two seasons without trophies, Real returned to Mourinho to try to stop Barcelona's dominance, and this result gives them hope for the right path.

The first period of the game was cautious, with few chances. Barcelona defender Pau Cubarsí reacted well twice to stop Mbappé, while Marc Cucurella from Real quickly targeted Lamine Yamal, constantly tackling the 19-year-old winger.

Anthony Gordon, playing in his first El Clásico after moving to Barcelona from Newcastle, passed the ball back to Raphinha, who shot wide as Barça created a threat.

The hosts faced a problem when young defender Xavi Espart was injured and replaced by Alejandro Balde before half-time.

Andriy Lunin, playing goalkeeper for Real after Thibaut Courtois was sidelined with the flu, caught Gordon's shot near the near post before the visitors scored the first goal.

Mbappé scored his tenth league goal this season, and it was the easiest for him when Gerard Martin from Barcelona deflected a cross directly onto the Frenchman, who guided it into the net.

Barça responded with a great chance to equalize, but the young sensation Yamal missed in front of the goal this time, shooting wide when he was ready to level the score.

The game became more open, and Jan Didomande came close to doubling Real's lead before halftime, shooting into the far net.

Late Strike

Martin restored justice early in the second half, saving Jude Bellingham, who could neither beat the defender nor find an open Mbappé.

Raphinha, who was quiet in the first half, equalized for Barcelona a little later in the game. Pedri passed to the Brazilian, the La Liga top scorer with 13 goals, who shot past Bellingham's legs, and Lunin could not stop the shot.

The Ukrainian goalkeeper made an excellent save to prevent Martin from scoring from a corner, as Barcelona began to attack with increasing intensity.

Yamal shot past Lunin, stretching him, and Barcelona substitute Frenkie de Jong received a shot that was desperately blocked by Din Huijsen.

However, the Catalans had an unpleasant moment when substitute Gabriel Jesus lost the ball, and Real broke into attack. Eduardo Camavinga bypassed Cubarsí and altruistically passed the ball back to Mbappé, who scored his second goal of the evening into an empty net because Joan García was out of position.

This brought Mbappé to one hundred goals since his transfer from PSG to Real in 2024, although corresponding trophies have yet to be won.

Mbappé told 'Real Madrid TV': "(The victory) is a good message today, but we cannot think that the season is over—next week (against Racing Santander) we must apply the same intensity."