Hat-trick hero Kylian Mbappe returns to form in style as Real Madrid extend lead
Mbappe shrugged off an indifferent and injury-hit campaign as he combined brilliantly with Jude Bellingham to fire Real’s opening goal.
Kylian Mbappe capped a breathtaking return to form with a hat-trick as Real Madrid went four points clear at the top of LaLiga with a 3-0 win at Real Valladolid.
Mbappe shrugged off an indifferent and injury-hit campaign as he combined brilliantly with Jude Bellingham to fire Real’s opening goal on the half-hour mark.
The Frenchman finished off a swift counter-attack in the 57th minute then sealed his one-man show with a last-minute penalty as Real eased to a fourth-straight domestic win.
The visitors threatened to inflict more woe on Diego Simeone’s men when they went ahead through Gerard Moreno’s 29th-minute penalty, but Samuel Lino scored just before the hour mark to salvage a point.
Cedric Bakambu scored deep in injury time to snatch a 1-0 win for Real Betis at Mallorca, who had Omar Mascarell sent off midway through the second half, while Sevilla were held 1-1 at home by struggling Espanyol.
Randal Kolo Muani’s close-range effort gave the visitors the lead just before the break, but Napoli came on strong in the second half with Franck Anguissa levelling and Romelu Lukaku’s 69th-minute penalty sealing a 2-1 win.
Two goals from Mateo Retegui ensured Atalanta got back on track after four games without a win as they triumphed 2-1 at improving Como, while Bologna required a Benjamin Dominguez equaliser to salvage a 1-1 draw at struggling Empoli.
The runaway Ligue 1 leaders looked set for three more points when Ousmane Dembele put them in front early in the second half, but Reims were level before the hour mark, courtesy of Keito Nakamura.
Monaco held off struggling Rennes to record their first Ligue 1 win in five attempts, with goals from Maghnes Akliouche, Mike Biereth and Alekandr Golovin just enough to earn a 3-2 win.
Strasbourg dented Lille’s Champions League aspirations as late goals from Andrey Santos and Emmanuel Emegha saw the hosts cancel out Osame Sahraoui’s early opener to win 2-1.
Vincent Kompany’s men – who were thrashed 3-0 at Feyenoord on Wednesday – opened the scoring through Harry Kane after 15 minutes and Kim Min-Jae doubled their lead early in the second half before Matthias Ginter gave Freiburg hope.
Second-placed Bayer Leverkusen dropped points as they were pinned back to a 2-2 draw at RB Leipzig, despite sweeping into a 2-0 lead through Patrik Schick and Aleix Garcia.
Borussia Dortmund, who played most of the game with 10 men after an early red card for Nico Schlotterbeck, also blew a two-goal lead as they were held 2-2 at home by Werder Bremen.
Borussia Monchengladbach shrugged off three-straight losses to beat bottom club Bochum 3-0, Augsburg edged Heidenheim 2-1 and Stuttgart’s recent good run was brought to an end in a 2-0 defeat at Mainz.
