Kylian Mbappe responded to missing out on the Ballon d’Or by finding the net for the 12th time in LaLiga this season as Real Madrid secured an emphatic 3-0 victory over Racing Santander.
Mbappe lost out on football’s most prestigious individual award to Harry Kane on Monday but showed no signs of frustration during the encounter at Campos de Sport de El Sardinero.
Jude Bellingham also marked his 50th goal for Los Blancos in all competitions, while Yan Diomande maintained his impressive recent form as Madrid delivered a commanding first-half performance.
Madrid took the lead in the 11th minute after Matteo Prati brought down Mbappe inside the penalty area. The French forward stepped up to take the resulting spot-kick and confidently sent it past Julen Agirrezabala.
Ten minutes later, Bellingham doubled Madrid’s lead. The England international latched onto a precise pass from Arda Guler, went around the Racing goalkeeper and calmly finished into an unguarded net.
Diomande completed the first-half scoring nine minutes before the interval. Following Guler’s corner, the ball fell to the Ivorian near the edge of the box, and he unleashed a powerful effort that flew into the roof of the net.
Mbappe came close to extending Madrid’s advantage shortly after the hour mark, but his attempt struck the right post. The forward subsequently sent another effort high over the crossbar.
Racing were initially awarded a penalty in the 72nd minute after Aurelien Tchouameni was penalised for handball. However, referee Jose Luis Munuera Montero reversed the decision after reviewing the incident on the pitchside monitor.
Bellingham also thought he had completed his brace, but his effort was ruled out for offside after Brahim Diaz’s deflected shot fell into his path.
Despite those missed opportunities, Madrid comfortably maintained their advantage to secure all three points.
First-half dominance keeps Madrid in title race
Real Madrid entered the encounter six points behind LaLiga leaders Barcelona, who defeated Alaves 6-1 on Saturday. However, their impressive first-half display provided the perfect response as they recorded their ninth league victory of the campaign.
The three goals marked the first time Madrid had scored three times in the opening half of an away LaLiga fixture since their four-goal performance against Villarreal at Estadio de la Ceramica in May 2024.
The previous occasion they achieved the feat under Mourinho in the competition was against Valencia at Mestalla in January 2013, when they scored five first-half goals.
Mbappe once again proved decisive, having now scored against all 24 opponents he has faced in LaLiga, taking his tally to 68 goals.
His penalty also represented his 18th spot-kick goal in the competition. No player has scored more penalties since the 2024-25 campaign, with Ante Budimir also registering 18.
Meanwhile, Bellingham celebrated a significant milestone by reaching 50 goals for Madrid in all competitions in his 154th appearance for the club.
He remains the only LaLiga midfielder to have scored 50 goals since joining Madrid ahead of the 2023-24 season.
Madrid’s superiority was also evident in the expected goals statistics. Mourinho’s side recorded an xG of 3.45 from 22 attempts, compared to Racing’s 1.15 from 10 shots. Only one of the hosts’ efforts required Thibaut Courtois to make a save.