Tag: Mbappe

Kylian Mbappe struck twice against his former side Monaco as Real Madrid romped to an emphatic 6-1 Champions League victory on Tuesday to ease tensions around the club.

Vinicius Junior, who was jeered by his own fans during a home win over Levante last weekend, also shone and scored a brilliant goal as Madrid strengthened their bid to claim a top-eight finish in the league phase.

New coach Alvaro Arbeloa secured a second win at the helm after replacing Xabi Alonso last week, with his team producing a dazzling attacking display to help fans forget recent disappointments.

Jude Bellingham and Franco Mastantuono were also on target for Los Blancos, and Thilo Kehrer bundled a Vinicius cross into his own net as Madrid delivered perhaps their best performance of the season.

“The players won this game, with their effort and their quality,” Arbeloa told Movistar, after the record 15-time champions moved provisionally second in the league phase table.

“I loved their attitude and their quality, this mentality and ambition are what all Madrid fans want to see.”

There were still a few boos for Vinicius at the start, but they dried as he reminded Madrid’s fans how good he can be.

“The last few days have been very complicated, for all of us, but above all for me because of the whistles, and everyone speaking about me,” said Vinicius.

“I try to give everything for this shirt and for the club who have given me so much.”

Mbappe has been in superb form even as Madrid have struggled and stretched his lead at the top of the European goalscoring charts with his 10th and 11th goals to give his team a commanding lead.

After missing the Copa del Rey humiliation by Albacete in Arbeloa’s disastrous first game, Mbappe has netted in the next two matches.

It took just five minutes for the French superstar to open the scoring, slotting home from just inside the area after Fede Valverde knocked on Mastantuono’s cut-back.

After celebrating with his team-mates, Mbappe apologised to the visiting supporters, having first emerged into the world’s spotlight while at Monaco.

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Ansu Fati, on loan at Monaco from Madrid’s rivals Barcelona, came close before Arbeloa’s side struck again.

They launched a devastating counter-attack, with Eduardo Camavinga’s clever flick to Arda Guler sparking the move. Guler found Vinicius, who span the ball across for Mbappe, just onside, to tuck home.

Despite being shredded defensively, Monaco offered some attacking threat, and Jordan Teze hit the crossbar with a well-guided long-range effort.

Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois also made a couple of solid saves before the break, with Madrid’s third coming shortly after the action resumed.

Vinicius, heavily involved, unselfishly teed up former River Plate playmaker Mastantuono, who swept home.

After 55 minutes, Madrid had four, with Kehrer turning Vinicius’s raking low cross into his own net as Monaco crumbled.

Arbeloa has only had words of praise for Vinicius since taking over, and the forward rewarded his coach with a hug after ramming in the fifth.

Vinicius fired into the top corner past helpless goalkeeper Philipp Kohn for only his second goal in his last 19 matches for the club.

“This is my Vinicius,” said Real midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni. “When we play well, the people who come here are very happy. Today was a very good night here in the Bernabeu.”

Teze pulled one back for Monaco after a mistake by Dani Ceballos, before Madrid struck again to round off the rout.

Bellingham rounded the goalkeeper to net in the 80th minute after Dean Huijsen cleverly dummied Valverde’s pass.

The England international celebrated by chugging several imaginary drinks, an apparent riposte to claims he is fond of the nightlife in Spain, while Madrid’s heavy win offered their own response to the turbulent period they are in.

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Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso said Thursday that superstar French striker Kylian Mbappe is fit to play in the Spanish Super Cup final against Barcelona after a knee sprain.

The forward was left out of Madrid’s travelling party to Saudi Arabia, with Los Blancos beating city rivals Atletico Madrid 2-1 in the semi-final on Thursday to set up a Clasico final on Sunday.

“(Mbappe) is a lot better, he is feeling good, and he has the same chance of playing as his team-mates,” Alonso told reporters in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Xabi Alonso said Kylian Mbappe would fly to join the squad on Friday.

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The 27-year-old is Los Blancos’ top goalscorer with 29 goals this season across all competitions in 24 appearances.

Notably, Real Madrid beat Atletico Madrid 2-1 in a tight Spanish Super Cup semi-final on Thursday to set up a Clasico final clash against rivals Barcelona.

Meanwhile, holders Barcelona defeated Athletic Bilbao 5-0 on Wednesday in the first semi-final.

For the unversed, the Spanish coach led Madrid to a win over Barcelona in his first Clasico at the helm in October.

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Kylian Mbappe scored twice and set up another as Real Madrid beat Athletic Bilbao 3-0 to cut Barcelona’s La Liga lead back down to one point on Wednesday.

Xabi Alonso’s side curtailed a run of three consecutive league draws away from home with one of their best displays of the season at Athletic’s San Mames.

Mbappe opened the scoring early on as Trent Alexander-Arnold provided his first La Liga assist, with Eduardo Camavinga nodding in the second before the break.

French superstar Mbappe slammed home another in the second half for his 16th league goal of the season to seal Madrid’s victory.

One negative for Los Blancos were apparent injuries for Alexander-Arnold and Camavinga in the second half, with both players replaced.

Mbappe missed a penalty in the same fixture last winter while still finding his feet at Madrid, later saying that was his “rock bottom”, but on his return, Athletic found themselves up against arguably the best player in the world.

Mbappe almost sent Real Madrid ahead in the fourth minute, but Unai Simon made a smart save at his near post, and then parried a Vinicius effort.

Madrid came out of the blocks strongly against eighth-place Athletic and took the lead in the seventh minute, through a brilliant Mbappe goal.

Alexander-Arnold picked out the forward with a fine long pass, and Mbappe drifted menacingly towards the box and produced a perfect finish to beat Simon.

Gorka Guruzeta fired over and forced Thibaut Courtois into a good save at the other end, on one of Athletic’s rare forays forward.

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Their best chance came when Nico Williams and Alex Berenguer combined, but Courtois produced a superb stop to deny the latter.

It woke Madrid back up, and they took control once again, threatening twice through Vinicius, who was connecting efficiently with Mbappe.

The Brazilian winger hit the outside of the post with a low effort from a tight angle, with Simon out of his goal attempting to block him off.

The goalkeeper made an excellent save to thwart Vinicius one-on-one a few minutes later after Eder Militao sent him through on goal.

Madrid grabbed their second before the interval at the end of a fine team move, with Mbappe nodding Alexander-Arnold’s cross back across goal for Camavinga to head home from point-blank range.

Courtois tipped over Mikel Jauregizar’s fierce effort from range early in the second half to stop Athletic from earning a foothold in the game.

The first of two sour notes came for Madrid when Alexander-Arnold pulled up with an apparent muscular injury and had to be replaced by Raul Asencio.

Mbappe put the game beyond doubt with another long-range effort, which flew in at the near post for his 25th goal across all competitions. Simon might have done more to keep it out, perhaps undoing some of his earlier good work.

Camavinga was taken off hurt later on in another potential injury blow for former Real Sociedad player Alonso, on an otherwise dream outing in the Basque Country against his former rivals.

The coach even got a warm embrace from Vinicius when he substituted the Brazilian, despite the player seeming to be at loggerheads with him over the past few weeks.

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PIREAS: Kylian Mbappe scored all four goals as Real Madrid hung on to beat Olympiacos 4-3 in their Champions League clash at Karaiskakis Stadium on Wednesday and end a three-match winless run in all competitions.

Chiquinho fired home from 20 yards to finish off a neat move as Olympiacos took an early lead in Greece, but Mbappe stole the show and took over as the competition’s leading scorer this season.

“It was very important to get back to winning ways, we know that three matches without that is a lot for us,” Mbappe told Movistar.

“(The team) looks good to me, of course, there are things to improve. At a club like Real Madrid (it’s normal) that people talk.”

The France captain drilled through the legs of Olympiacos goalkeeper Kostas Tzolakis to bring Madrid level on 22 minutes after racing onto a sublime ball in behind the defence from Vinicius Junior.

Mbappe struck again two minutes later when he planted a header low into the corner from an Arda Guler cross.

The forward completed the second fastest Champions League hat-trick ever as he ran clear and steered beyond Tzolakis again, his three goals coming in the space of six minutes and 42 seconds.

Only Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, against Rangers in 2022, has scored a quicker hat-trick in the competition.

Substitute Mehdi Taremi, who replaced the injured Chiquinho in the first half, hauled Olympiacos back into the match with an emphatic header past stand-in Madrid goalkeeper Andriy Lunin on 52 minutes.

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The Ukraine international was filling in for Thibaut Courtois, who missed the trip due to illness. Madrid were also without Dean Huijsen, his absence adding to those of Dani Carvajal, Eder Militao and Antonio Rudiger in an injury-ravaged defence.

Madrid had never won away to Greek opponents on seven previous visits but Mbappe ensured the Spanish giants put an end to that sequence, turning in his fourth of the night after excellent work by Vinicius down the left.

That took Mbappe to nine goals in five Champions League matches this term, sending him three clear of Victor Osimhen at the top of the scoring charts.

“I’m very happy, it’s always a pleasure to score goals. My teammates are giving me quality passes. I’m very lucky to play in this team, with these teammates,” said Mbappe.

Ayoub El Kaabi halved the deficit with nine minutes left, but Madrid clung on to earn their fourth win in five Champions League matches, bouncing back from a loss at Liverpool in their last European outing.

“The important thing today was to break up, a little bit, the dynamic we were coming from, and to get back that (winning) feeling,” said Madrid coach Xabi Alonso.

The record 15-time European champions moved up to fifth in the standings with games still to come against Manchester City, Monaco and Benfica.

“We need everyone, and it’s clear that today Kylian stands out with the goals, but today it was very important to change the dynamic… and that’s why the players were celebrating,” said Alonso.

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French striker Kylian Mbappe struck twice as Real Madrid extended their winning start to La Liga with a comfortable 4-1 triumph at Levante on Tuesday.

With these two goals, Mbappe has reached seven league goals in six matches as Xabi Alonso’s side maintained their 100 percent record.

Vinicius Junior opened the scoring with a superb finish, and Franco Mastantuono was also on target for the league leaders.

Second-placed Barcelona visit Real Oviedo on Thursday, with the Spanish champions trailing Madrid by five points.

“It was a very good game, from the start, we were really committed in defence and the first goal was fundamental, to go ahead and give us confidence,” said Alonso.

Vinicius was unhappy to be taken off by Alonso during the win over Espanyol on Saturday, but the Brazilian winger started on the left flank and delivered.

Since coming second to Manchester City’s Rodri in last year’s Ballon d’Or rankings, Vinicius has struggled for consistency.

However, he found his rhythm at the Ciutat de Valencia stadium and opened the scoring after 28 minutes, following a bright start to the game.

“Vini had a very complete, very good game, and I am very happy for him,” said Alonso.

Valencia goalkeeper Mathew Ryan made a good save to deny Vinicius, and Mastantuono hit the bar from the rebound as Los Blancos threatened in the opening stages.

Then fed by Fede Valverde on the right of the box, Vinicius used the outside of his right boot to bend a sumptuous effort in at the far post.

Ivan Romero and Adrian de la Fuente came close early for Levante, but they were forced back, and Madrid found their second when Vinicius set up Mastantuono, who rifled into the top corner.

It was the promising 18-year-old attacker’s first goal for the club since his summer switch from River Plate.

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Ryan denied Vinicius with a good stop from close range before half-time.

Levante striker Karl Etta Eyong, in fine form himself at the start of the season, nodded home his fourth goal from close range after Romero’s cross was deflected and looped into the air.

It offered Levante a brief glimmer of hope, but that was quickly quashed by Mbappe.

Unai Elgezabal clumsily brought down the French superstar in the box, and Mbappe cheekily dinked the resulting penalty down the middle for the third.

Then, two minutes later, the forward, released by Arda Guler, rounded Ryan and tapped home his second of the night.

Mbappe struggled in his first few months at Madrid after joining from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2024, but hit top form in the second half of the season.

The striker has carried that into the new campaign and has nine goals in seven games across all competitions, helping Madrid start the campaign in ideal fashion.

“There are still things we can do better, but we’re on a good path and we have to continue along it,” said Alonso, with Los Blancos facing city rivals Atletico on Saturday.

“We’re in a construction phase… there’s still a lot we have to do.

“We’re building a solid base, and on the team, many players feel connected and important.”

Villarreal earned a late 2-1 win at Sevilla to rise to third in the table, above fourth-placed Espanyol, who drew 2-2 with Valencia.

Bottom side Girona earned a creditable 1-1 draw at Athletic Bilbao, fifth.

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Maximilian Woeber’s own goal was enough to give France a winning start to their Euro 2024 campaign on Monday as they edged Austria 1-0 in their opening game but Kylian Mbappe came off late on with a broken nose.

Woeber diverted Mbappe’s cutback into his own net seven minutes before half-time in Duesseldorf to allow the French, one of the leading contenders to win the tournament, to come through a stiff test.

Austria have been much-improved under Ralf Rangnick and they often made life uncomfortable for France, who saw Mbappe leave the field near the end after being hurt in a collision.

He had earlier failed to convert a glorious chance that would have allowed France to win by a wider margin, and sources close to the player confirmed he had broken his nose in the accidental clash with Kevin Danso.

“He is in a bad way. He is not well. His nose is a mess, that’s for sure. That is the black mark of the evening for us,” France coach Didier Deschamps said, without confirming the extent of the injury.

“We had the chance to put the game to bed and it is true that we could have been more precise in attack, but it’s very good to start with a victory,” Deschamps said of the result.

France will next face the Netherlands in Leipzig on Friday, while Austria will face Poland on the same day in Berlin.

“We are obviously disappointed with the result. No France player scored against us in 100 minutes, just a very unfortunate own goal,” said Rangnick.

“I think Didier Deschamps was really happy when the final whistle came which shows how well my team played.”

Austria had enjoyed some impressive results coming into the tournament and their team is on familiar ground during these Euros — Rangnick is from Germany and eight of their starting line-up played in the German Bundesliga last season.

The French, however, are arguably the most talented team at the tournament, led by their captain Mbappe.

He endured a miserable time at his only previous Euros in 2021, failing to score and missing the decisive penalty in a shoot-out defeat by Switzerland in the last 16.

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The new Real Madrid signing will wonder how he did not score in this game, with his first big opportunity arriving inside eight minutes.

Antoine Griezmann and Theo Hernandez combined to release Mbappe, who cut in from the left and shaped to curl a shot into the far corner before instead aiming for the near post.

However, Austria goalkeeper Patrick Pentz managed to make the save.

The Austrians settled into the contest and passed up a wonderful chance of their own to go ahead on 36 minutes.

Skipper Marcel Sabitzer touched down a Michael Gregoritsch cross from the left for Christoph Baumgartner, but he was foiled by goalkeeper Mike Maignan.

That proved crucial as France took the lead two minutes later.

Ousmane Dembele gave the ball to Mbappe on the right, and he produced a stepover to get to the byline before his cutback was nodded into the far corner of his own net by the unfortunate Woeber.

Mbappe was then thwarted by Pentz as he tried to go around the goalkeeper in first-half stoppage time, but that was nothing compared to the chance he squandered 10 minutes after the restart.

Adrien Rabiot sent Mbappe away, bounding in behind the Austrian defence, but he somehow put his shot wide with just the goalkeeper to beat.

That left the game in the balance, and Austria continued to push for a leveller, without success.

Their fans were less than impressed by what they perceived as timewasting late on from Mbappe, who needed treatment after colliding with Danso in the box.

He left the pitch with his shirt stained by blood, only to then come back on and sit down, earning himself a yellow card before being replaced by Olivier Giroud.

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French club Paris Saint Germain (PSG) is set to organize a farewell ceremony for star striker Kylian Mbappe on Sunday to honour his services for the club, reported by French newspaper L’Équipe.

Mbappe, who joined PSG as an 18-year-old in 2017, is set to leave the club and is likely to join Spanish club Real Madrid, who qualified for the UEFA Champions League final yesterday after edging past German club Bayern Munich.

Mbappe had hoped to sign off by leading PSG to Champions League glory for the first time in their history, and they were the favourites to see off Borussia Dortmund at the Parc des Princes in the semi-final second leg.

But they failed to overturn a one-goal first-leg deficit, with Mats Hummels scoring the only goal on the night to give Dortmund a 2-0 aggregate victory.

Mbappe was one of four PSG players to hit the woodwork in the second half, and coach Luis Enrique complained his side -– who had 31 attempts on goal — had been “unlucky”.

“I don’t really like to talk about bad luck,” Mbappe said after the match.

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“When you are good, you don’t hit the post, you score. I tried to help my team as best as I could but I didn’t do enough.

“When I say we needed to be more clinical, I am the one who has to be scoring. But this is life, we need to pick ourselves up.”

“When things are good, I take all the limelight and when they are not, you have to take the shadow.”

During his seven-year stay, he emerged as PSG’s all-time top goalscorer with 255 goals in 306 games.

He has won six Ligue 1 titles and three Coupes de France, including a domestic quadruple in the 2019–20 season with the French club.

He also led them to their first-ever UEFA Champions League final in 2020.

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Kylian Mbappe had a penalty saved but then scored the only goal of the game as Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) beat Rennes 1-0 in the last four of the French Cup on Wednesday to set up a final showdown against Lyon.

Mbappe saw Rennes goalkeeper Steve Mandanda save his 37th-minute spot-kick at the Parc des Princes, but three minutes later the France captain found the net with a shot that took a deflection on its way in.

It was Mbappe’s 39th goal of the campaign for PSG in all competitions, and he appears certain to break the 40 mark for the third time in four seasons.

PSG will play Lyon, 3-0 winners against second-tier Valenciennes in Tuesday’s first semi-final, in the final in Lille on May 25 as the capital side look to add to their record tally of 14 victories in the French Cup.

They had won the competition six times in seven seasons before missing out in each of the last two campaigns, with Nantes lifting the trophy in 2022 and Toulouse succeeding them last year.

“I’m very happy. The French Cup is one of our main objectives this season and winning through to the final is a source of satisfaction for all of us,” said PSG coach Luis Enrique.

The final at the end of next month could end up being Mbappe’s last game as a PSG player, with the 25-year-old having informed the club of his intention to depart after this season when his contract expires.

The Ligue 1 season concludes on May 18, although the Champions League final will be played in London on June 1 — PSG are still alive in Europe and face Barcelona in the first leg of the quarter-final next week.

Luis Enrique’s PSG side sit 12 points clear at the top of Ligue 1 with seven games left having already won the French Champions Trophy at the turn of the year, meaning they remain in contention to claim a clean sweep of honours this season.

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“We all want to win trophies for the club and we are on the right track,” the coach said.

“In football at the highest level, the difference between winning and losing is very small, but we are in a good position in the league and the Cup, we have won the Super Cup, and in the Champions League we are where we want to be.”

They did not have it easy against a Rennes team who drew 1-1 in Paris in the league a month ago and who competed well for much of Wednesday’s game.

However, the home side almost went ahead inside 12 minutes, when Ousmane Dembele released Mbappe to accelerate away towards the goal, only for Mandanda to get a big touch on his shot, which struck the underside of the bar and bounced away.

It was Mbappe who won the penalty as he was fouled by Warmed Omari just inside the area, but Mandanda’s stop meant it was the third time PSG’s star man had been denied from the spot this season.

Unfortunately for Mandanda, there was nothing the former French international goalkeeper could do when Mbappe’s shot in the 40th minute took a touch off Omari to leave him wrong-footed.

Paris were unable to make the game safe in the second half but Rennes also lacked the bit of quality needed to find an equaliser and force a penalty shoot-out, even after their attacking talisman Martin Terrier was introduced off the bench.

Rennes, who currently sit eighth in Ligue 1, are now left to focus on their fight to qualify for Europe.

Lyon, who beat Valenciennes with the help of two Alexandre Lacazette goals, will be attempting to win the Cup for the sixth time in their history.

Their last piece of silverware came when they won the French Cup in 2012.

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PARIS: Kylian Mbappe said he will never get over the disappointment of losing the World Cup final after the France star scored the winner on his return to action for Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday.

“I think I’m never going to get over it,” Mbappe said, speaking 10 days after he scored a hat-trick in the final against Argentina which the South Americans won in a penalty shootout.

Mbappe said he had been through some “difficult times” since the defeat but he showed few signs of the setback in Qatar as he won and converted a 96th minute penalty to give PSG a last-gasp 2-1 win against Strasbourg on Ligue 1’s resumption following the World Cup break.

“As I said to my teammates, there is no reason why the club should pay the price for the failure of the national team, they are two very different situations,” 24-year-old Mbappe said.

“It does me good to come back with a win and to have a link with the club, the supporters and my teammates.”

Neymar, who was left in tears after Brazil were knocked out by Croatia in the quarter-finals of the World Cup, was sent off for two yellow cards in PSG’s victory.

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