Santander (Spain) (AFP) – After a week shaken by a diplomatic controversy with China, Kylian Mbappé's Real Madrid chained a fourth consecutive victory in LaLiga, this Sunday with a 3-0 visit to Racing de Santander, to keep an eye on Barcelona and Atlético.
First modification: 01/11/2026 - 18:41
These two teams had won their matches on this 11th matchday on Saturday, Barça at home 6-1 against Alavés and Atlético 2-0 away against Levante, which put pressure on the merengue team in this trip to Cantabria, in the north of the country.
With the victory of the first three this weekend, Real Madrid remains in the third place of the standings, one point behind Atlético and three behind the leader Barcelona, whom it defeated a week ago in the Clásico.
Mbappé was in charge of opening Real Madrid's victory, by converting a penalty in the 11th minute, before the Englishman Jude Bellingham (22') and the Ivorian Yan Diomande (37'), with a powerful volley, sentenced them before the break against the sixteenth-placed team.
Mbappé himself had caused the penalty that he himself later scored and was the author of the assist for Bellingham's goal, so he was the main architect of this victory, in a stormy week for him.
The controversy with China, furthermore, does not seem to have ended and none of the sports networks of the state television group CCTV have broadcast any LaLiga matches this weekend, AFP journalists in Beijing confirmed.
Other duels, including the one against Barcelona on Saturday, were available on the Migu application, a Chinese streaming giant and another of the holders of the broadcasting rights in the country.
China had threatened to boycott Mbappé, Real Madrid and LaLiga after statements by the French footballer in which he described Mao Zedong as a "Chinese dictator", in a context of relaxed chat on a podcast.
Despite the apologies offered by the player and the conciliatory statements from the club and LaLiga, the boycott appears to have materialized and could be extended next week to the European Champions League, which is broadcast in China by the iQiyi Sports platform.
The broadcast program of that channel does not mention at the moment the trip of Real Madrid to the AEK Atenas field on Wednesday.
© 2026 AFP
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