Mbappé Scores First Hat Trick for Real Madrid as Atletico Draws

Kylian Mbappé tucked the ball under his shirt as he raised both hands to return the applause to the Real Madrid fans who savored his first hat trick for his new club.
The France star had just led a 3-0 victory at struggling Valladolid that extended Madrid’s lead of La Liga on Saturday, keeping it in position to retain the title just after the midway point of the campaign.
Gone was the inconsistent play and missed penalties from Mbappé during his first months with Madrid following his move from Paris Saint-Germain. The France captain has started pouring in goals with back-to-back multi-goal games and has Madrid in pole position with Atletico Madrid and Barcelona stalled.
“I'm very happy for the hat trick but even happier for the win,” Mbappé said in fluent Spanish. “It was very important to win after Atletico’s result because that gave us a bit more pressure to take advantage of it.”
Madrid’s fourth straight triumph in the league combined with Atletico Madrid’s 1-1 draw with Villarreal let Carlo Ancelotti’s side open a four-point gap over its city rival. Barcelona was in third place at 10 points back before hosting Valencia on Sunday.
Madrid trailed then-leader Barcelona at one point, but since getting blown away in a 4-0 clasico debacle, it has found its stride and is in championship mode.
“My adaptation to the team is over. I feel comfortable on the field and you can see that from the way I am playing with my teammates,” Mbappé said. “This gives us confidence, but you know that until the 38th round this is not over. We have to keep winning because there is a long way to go.”
The game between the front-runner and the bottom side fit its billing as a mismatch.
Valladolid could draw only one save from Thibaut Courtois in the opening moments. It was all Madrid the rest of the way even though Vinícius Júnior didn’t play as he completed a two-game suspension.
Mbappé swept in Madrid’s first goal on the half-hour mark after a flowing team attack of quick passes to weave the ball through a packed Valladolid area that culminated in Jude Bellingham’s assist for the France star.
He made it a double in the 57th by finishing off a three-against-two counterattack after Federico Valverde intercepted a Valladolid pass. Mbappé took a pass by Rodrygo and rifled in a low strike from the left side of the box.
Valladolid finished with 10 men after Mario Martín got a second booking in the 90th for a foul on Bellingham, sending Mbappé to the spot for his third.
That made it four games in a row with a goal across all competitions for Mbappé. In La Liga, Mbappé has 15, second only to Robert Lewandowski’s 16 for Barcelona. He also scored twice last weekend against Las Palmas in a 4-1 win.
“Mbappé is giving us a lot. He has found his rhythm over the last couple of months and that is obviously a boost for us,” Ancelotti said.
Valladolid was five points from safety.
Atletico's stalemate with Villarreal came a week after a shock 1-0 loss at Leganes.
Gerard Moreno, Villarreal’s top scorer in club history, made it 120 goals for the Yellow Submarine in the 25th minute after the striker converted a penalty he earned when fouled by Reinildo.
Atletico coach Diego Simeone rested Antoine Griezmann and midfielder Rodrigo de Paul for the first half. Then he made three changes at halftime, sending on De Paul and winger Samu Lino to kickstart his sluggish attack.
The moves paid off as the hosts pressed Villarreal into its box, and Lino rammed in a 58th-minute equalizer.
Simeone sent Griezmann on immediately after and the action stayed in Villarreal’s area except for two chances for Villarreal’s Ayoze Pérez, who replaced Gerard. But Griezmann’s header that bounced just wide in the 86th was the closest Atletico came to snatching a winner.
“We played a good game at a very tough ground against a team with a deep bench that is fighting for the league. We are happy,” Gerard said for a Villarreal that stayed in fifth place.
Cedric Bakambu headed in a stoppage-time winner to grab Real Betis a 1-0 victory at 10-man Mallorca.
Mallorca had opportunities until Omar Mascarell received a direct red card for a studs-first tackle of Betis’ Jesús Rodríguez in the 73rd.
The win came while Betis secured a loan deal for forward Anthony from Manchester United.
García sustains Espanyol Goalkeeper Joan García made three saves to deny Sevilla standout Dodi Lukebakio and help Espanyol grind out a 1-1 draw at Sevilla.

A fire at a closed ski resort hotel in northwest Türkiye killed an Olympic skier and his father Thursday, two months after a blaze at another Turkish winter resort left 79 dead.
The victims were named as Yahya Usta, president of the Turkish Ski and Snowboard Teachers Association, and his 25-year-old son Berkin, a skier who represented Türkiye at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games. Yahya Usta, his son and wife were staying on the hotel's fifth floor.
The Kervansaray Hotel in Uludag, Bursa province, was empty of guests when the fire started at 5:30 a.m. but 12 staff were present, Bursa governor’s office said. Several people suffering smoke inhalation were hospitalized.
The 30-year-old hotel was shut down in early January when its accommodation permit was cancelled, the governor's office added, according to The Associated Press.
TV images showed flames quickly engulfing the six-story hotel, located on the slopes of one of Türkiye’s most popular ski destinations, less than a three-hour drive from Istanbul.
Fire crews brought the blaze under control within two hours but not before the upper floors had been gutted.
Bursa Mayor Mustafa Bozbey said the fire began in the cafeteria.
“I learned with deep sorrow that our national athlete Berkin Usta and his father Yahya Usta lost their lives in the fire that broke out in the hotel in Uludag.” Sports Minister Osman Askin Bak said.
Prosecutors have launched an investigation into the Bursa fire.
In January a 12-story ski resort hotel in northwestern Türkiye went up in flames during a school holiday, killing 79.
That fire, at the Grand Kartal hotel in Kartalkaya, in Bolu province’s Koroglu mountains, also started in the hotel's dining area.
The state-run Anadolu news agency on Wednesday reported fresh arrests relating to the Bolu fire, taking the number of people in detention awaiting trial to 28.

Mbappé Scores First Hat Trick for Real Madrid as Atletico Draws