La Liga: Mbappe strikes as Real Madrid beat Santander 3-0

Real Madrid defeated Racing Santander 3-0 on Sunday during the 11th round of La Liga. Kylian Mbappe contributed to the victory by scoring a penalty. According to Punch Nigeria, the performance followed a week where the French forward narrowly lost the Ballon d’Or to Harry Kane and issued an apology following a social media controversy.

The controversy involved a viral video in which Mbappe referred to former Chinese leader Mao Zedong as a dictator. Channel News Asia reports that Chinese state broadcaster CCTV did not broadcast the match on its two sports channels. Following the remarks, Mbappe, Real Madrid, and La Liga issued apologies, which China's foreign ministry stated it took seriously.

Regarding team composition, El Pais notes that manager José Mourinho played without Federico Valverde, who was injured, and Vinicius, who was serving a suspension. Ajel English reports that Mourinho insists Trent Alexander-Arnold remains part of his plans despite recently favoring Valverde at right-back.

Brief written by urgent.news from Punch Nigeria, Channel News Asia, El Pais, Ajel English — 4 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.