Kylian Mbappe extends Real Madrid’s La Liga title charge at Valladolid

It was job done for Real Madrid as they sealed a 3-0 La Liga win away at struggling Real Valladolid via Kylian Mbappe’s hat trick.

Los Blancos now end the weekend with a four-point lead over second place Atletico Madrid with Barcelona looking to close their own gap against Valencia tomorrow.

The defending champions would have expected a routine night at La Liga’s basement club despite the absence of suspended star Vinicius Junior.

The Brazilian forward will now be fresh for a league return next month as Kylian Mbappe took centre stage in Valladolid.

The France international seized the one real chance of the first half as he buried Jude Bellingham’s smart lay off.

That strike broke Valladolid’s stiff defensive resistance and Mbappe curled home a second goal of the night just before the hour mark to effectively wrap up the result for the away side via a 14th league goal of 2024/25 for the Les Bleus captain.

However, there was to be a final flourish from Mbappe, as he converted from the penalty spot to register a first hat trick in Spanish football.

With an important box ticked off in league matters, Carlo Ancelotti will now turn his full attention to a huge midweek UEFA Champions League game on the road at French side Stade Brest.

After seven games played in the new league phase structure of the competition, the defending champions are tipped to miss out on an automatic last 16 spot, despite a returning to form in a 5-1 win over RB Salzburg.

Just 12 points accrued from seven games so far in Europe in 2024/25 is enough to confirm a play off spot, but they need to win in France, and hopes for other results to go their way to land inside the top eight.

Another two games added to the schedule is far from ideal for Ancelotti, on the back of travelling to Saudi Arabia for the Spanish Supercup, but Real Madrid’s chances of dodging the playoffs are currently rated at 2% by data experts Opta.