Mbappe helps Real Madrid overcome turbulent week with win at Racing Santander

Kylian Mbappe scored from the penalty spot as Real Madrid beat Racing Santander 3-0 on Sunday to remain within three points of La Liga leaders Barcelona.

The France forward had endured a difficult week after narrowly missing out on the Ballon d’Or to Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane. He subsequently apologised following a social media backlash over a video in which he joked about former Chinese leader Mao Zedong.

Real Madrid’s match was not shown on Chinese state television, along with other Spanish fixtures this weekend, because of the controversy.

Jude Bellingham and Yan Diomande were also on target as third-placed Madrid recorded a sixth consecutive win in all competitions. They remain one point behind city rivals Atletico Madrid, who defeated Levante 2-0, while Barcelona moved clear at the top with a 6-1 victory over Alaves on Saturday.

Mbappe put Real Madrid ahead after 11 minutes at the Sardinero stadium, winning what Racing coach Jose Alberto considered a soft penalty after going down under limited pressure from Matteo Prati. The 27-year-old converted emphatically for his 12th league goal of the season, leaving him second in the scoring charts behind Barcelona’s Raphinha, who has 15.

Arda Guler then released Bellingham with an excellent pass, allowing the England international to round the goalkeeper and score his 50th goal since joining Real Madrid in 2023.

“Reaching 50 goals with Real Madrid is very special,” Bellingham told Real Madrid TV.

“We played very well. It was very important to win after the victory at Camp Nou against Barca last weekend, so we are very happy.”

Guler missed a chance to add a third after being found by Mbappe, but Diomande, Real Madrid’s record signing, made it 3-0 with a powerful finish from the edge of the area.

Racing improved after the interval and pushed Madrid back, prompting Jose Mourinho to angrily call for a response from his players. The visitors soon restored their authority, with Mbappe hitting the post and Bellingham being denied by Julen Agirrezabala.

Racing were awarded a penalty when Aurelien Tchouameni handled in the area, but the decision was overturned following a VAR review. Bellingham had another goal ruled out for offside in stoppage time, while Endrick sent a long-range effort narrowly wide.

Racing, who are 16th and back in La Liga for the first time in 14 seasons, suffered their first home defeat of the campaign.

“In the first half we were very strong, we came out to play well,” Mourinho told reporters. “The team is growing, playing well, I think we should have scored even more goals with the chances we had.”

Jose Alberto said the penalty awarded to Real Madrid had influenced the match.

“It annoys me,” he told DAZN. “Evidently we came across a great Madrid, who put us under a lot of pressure in the first half hour, and were much better than us, but what conditions everything was the first goal and the penalty.”

Elsewhere, Sevilla lost 3-1 at Getafe, Valencia beat Elche 1-0 through Umar Sadiq’s well-taken goal, and Athletic Bilbao defeated Real Sociedad 2-1 in the Basque derby at San Mames stadium. Inaki Williams and Luka Sucic exchanged early goals before Alex Berenguer controversially converted a penalty for Athletic. Unai Simon made several important saves to secure victory for Los Leones.