La Liga Standings: Real Madrid Defeats Racing 3-0

Real Madrid played away at Racing Santander on Sunday. The visitors won 3-0 to stay close to the top of the Spanish league table.

Kylian Mbappé scored the opening goal in the 11th minute. He converted a penalty after being brought down in the box. The strike gave him 12 goals in league play this season. Jude Bellingham added the second goal midway through the first half. Yan Diomandé, a summer signing, fired a powerful shot to make it 3-0 before the break.

Jose Mourinho noted that the match could have ended with a higher score. He called the result a good win during an important week. The manager mentioned that his mind was already on the upcoming Champions League match against AEK Athens in Greece.

Mourinho said he wanted to rest players who would not start on Wednesday. He described the match as a gift from the league. He added that Spanish football wants to see its teams win. He questioned whether four or five changes would be enough to maintain that standard.

Real Madrid currently sits in third place. They are one point behind Atletico Madrid. They trail league leader Barcelona by three points. Barcelona has been scoring at a high rate recently.

Mbappé apologized on Tuesday for comments about Mao Zedong. He referred to the founder of the Chinese Communist Party as a dictator. The remarks drew criticism and cost him sponsorship deals with Chinese companies. He finished second in the men's Ballon d'Or voting last week. Harry Kane of Bayern Munich won that award.

Elsewhere in Spain, Getafe won 3-1 against Sevilla. Martin Satriano assisted Enes Ünal for the equalizer. Satriano then scored a goal himself. Orel Mangala added a third goal in the final minutes. The league held a minute of silence before matches this weekend to honor victims of a fatal train accident in Spain.