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Real Madrid defeated Athletic Bilbao 3-0 to reclaim Barcelona’s La Liga lead on Wednesday, extending it one point to two goals and adding another with Kylian Mbappe’s second goal.

One of their best performances of the season came at Athletic’s San Mames, ending a string of three league draws away from home.

With Eduardo Camavinga nodding in the second half of the first half, Mbappe opened the scoring with his first La Liga assist, Trent Alexander-Arnold.

In the second half, French superstar Mbappe scored his 16th league goal of the year to seal Madrid’s victory.

The team probably had the best game of our lives today, at a challenging location, in a significant moment, and we took it on calmly, Alonso said to the media.

We were aware of the significance of the draw at Girona last weekend, and we are now going to start thinking about the match against Celta (Vigo) on Sunday.

You can’t think too long about things, both in the good and the bad, because the calendar is very demanding. ”

Alexander-Arnold and Camavinga were both substituted in the second half, which was a negative for Los Blancos.

In the same game last winter, Mbappe missed a penalty while still finding his feet at Real Madrid, later calling it his “rock bottom,” but Athletic faced arguably the best player in the world when he returned.

Kylian is in excellent form, he scored two excellent goals today with his movement and Vini (Vinicius Junior) had a strong connection, and the team came out to play right away to win the game, according to Alonso.

Unai Simon made a wise save at his near post before a Vinicius effort was parried by Mbappe in the fourth minute, which almost gave Real Madrid the lead.

In the seventh minute, Madrid took the lead thanks to a brilliant Mbappe goal, which came out of the blocks against eighth-placed Athletic.

With a superb long pass, Mbappe scurried fearlessly into the box and delivered a flawless finish to beat Simon.

On one of Athletic’s rare forays forward, Gorka Guruzeta fired over and forced Thibaut Courtois into a good save at the other end.

Nico Williams and Alex Berenguer had the best of intentions, but Courtois put together a brilliant stop to negate this.

  connection between Mbappe and Vini

Madrid was awakened once more, and Vizius, who had a strong connection with Mbappe, threatened twice.

With a low effort from a tight angle, the Brazilian winger attempted to block him off with a low effort from the post.

After Eder Militao sent him through on goal, Vinicius was saved by the goalkeeper who made a superb save to stop him.

At the conclusion of a successful team move, Madrid grabbed their second before the break when Mbappe nodded Alexander-Arnold’s cross across goal for Camavinga to head home from close range.

Early in the second half, Courtois tipped over Athletic’s fierce effort from range.

When Alexander-Arnold pulled up with an apparent muscular injury and was replaced by Raul Asencio, the first of two unpleasant notes came for Madrid.

With his 25th goal in all competitions, Mbappe put the game beyond question with a second long-range effort that struck right at the near post. Simon could have improved his efforts to prevent it, perhaps reversing some of his earlier excellent work.

Alonso suffered another potential injury on a later, potential injury-related outing in the Basque Country against his former teammates when Camavinga was taken off hurt.

Despite the fact that the Brazilian appeared to be having disagreements with the coach over the past few weeks, the coach even received a warm embrace when he took the place of him.

Inigo Lekue, the Athletic defender, said, “They were stronger than us.

No matter what we did, we made an effort to play our game but were unable to. ”

Before joining their national teams at the Africa Cup of Nations, FIFA announced on Wednesday that stars like Mohamed Salah, Bryan Mbeumo, and Achraf Hakimi will be able to play for their clubs for an additional week until December 15.

Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, paid Donald Trump a surprise visit in 2018 and presented him with an enormous red card that he joked he could use to “wake someone out whenever you want to kick someone out.”

Trump flashed the card quickly to the assembled press corps, a gesture that perfectly exemplifies his frequently conflicted relationship with the media.

What appeared to be the opening act of one of the most contentious alliances in sport would be a playful exchange between the US leader and the head of world football.

Trump and Infantino’s blossoming bromance will once again be seen in full force at the 2026 World Cup draw in Washington on Friday.

Since making his first trip to the Oval Office seven years ago, Infantino has been a regular visitor, consistently applauding Trump’s leadership as the World Cup, which will be hosted by Canada and Mexico, approaches.

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Infantino compared the US leader’s character to that of elite athletes at a 2020 dinner in Davos during the World Economic Forum.

“I have the good fortune to have encountered some of the most talented soccer players.” Additionally, Infantino claimed that President Trump is made of the same type of material.

‘Mutual interest ‘, &nbsp

Infantino has a pragmatist foundation, in part, in his desire to establish a close relationship with Trump.

It’s just good practice to form strong ties with Washington as the country prepares to face the logistical difficulties of hosting the majority of games for an expanded 48-team World Cup.

Gianni has a very close relationship with Trump, according to John Zerafa, a seasoned sports communications strategist in the UK, who is leveraging that to make 2026 work.

However, many critics have questioned whether Infantino’s relationship with Trump has crossed a line between rough riding over the frequently ambiguous line between sport and politics.

Infantino has appeared alongside Trump on the political stage in addition to his frequent trips to Washington.

Infantino raised eyebrows in October when he spoke at the US leader’s meeting in Sharm El-Sheikh, where he co-chaired discussions with other world leaders, at Trump’s invitation.

Infantino continued, “President Trump’s role has been absolutely crucial and fundamental in the process.” There wouldn’t be peace without President Trump.

Infantino’s remarks and presence at the summit were described as “deeply troubling,” according to FairSquare’s Nick McGeehan.

Infantino claimed that it had placed FIFA “firmly in the corner” of Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and that it had abandoned all pretenses of the political neutrality that FIFA endorsed and was legally committed to upholding.

A Trump “Peace Prize,” &nbsp?

After speaking out against the Trump administration’s policy agenda with Trump at the America Business Forum in Miami last month, Infantino was once again met with criticism.

Trump simply goes by what he promised to do, Infantino told the audience. “I believe we all should support what he’s doing because I think it looks pretty good,” he said.

Infantino’s remarks were in violation of FIFA’s statutes, according to former FIFA governance chief Miguel Maduro.

FIFA’s president can declare that the results of elections should be respected. Infantino went above and beyond, Maduro told The Athletic.

He is participating in what the US has known as an internal political debate.

Infantino, however, has not shown any signs of being dissuaded by the criticism.

FIFA announced plans for a new FIFA Peace Prize, which will be awarded at Friday’s drawing at the Kennedy Center in Washington, the day Infantino spoke in Miami.

It is crucial to acknowledge the outstanding contributions of those who work hard to end conflicts and unite people in a spirit of peace, according to Infantino in a statement.

In addition to being notable returnees, Victor Boniface, Ola Aina, Francis Uzoho, and Kelechi Iheanacho were revealed as part of Nigeria’s 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) provisional squad. &nbsp,

Aina is expected to miss three months due to an injury she sustained in Nigeria’s 2-2 draw with South Africa in September.

In recent matches, the team did not include Boniface, Uzoho, or Iheanacho.

About three weeks before the Moroccan competition, the Super Eagles’ social media accounts released the AFCON list with the 54-man roster.

Regulars included, among others, Captain William Troost-Ekong, Wilfred Ndidi, Stanley Nwabali, Victor Osimhen, Ademola Lookman, Simon Moses, Samuel Chukwueze, and Zaidu Sanusi, as was anticipated.

Six goalkeepers, 13 defenders, 12 midfielders, and 23 forwards are included in the squad’s breakdown.

Inter Milan’s Ebenezer Akinsanmiro made the provisional squad, and he is expected to make the competition’s final list. He is currently on loan at Pisa.

Adekunle Adeleke, Ebenezer Harcourt, Abdulrasheed Shehu, Ekeson Okorie, and Chisom Orji are just a few players from the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) who are also on the roster.

On or before December 11 will be revealed Nigeria’s final 28-man list. The 2025 AFCON will run from December 21st, 2025, to January 18, 2026.

The Super Eagles will face Group C opponents Tanzania, Uganda, and Tunisia, and camp in Egypt for the game will start on December 10.

Nigeria’s Provisional List for the 2025 AFCON

Nigeria’s 2025 AFCON provisional squad is shown below.

Goalkeepers

Stanley Nwabali (Chippa United, South Africa), Amas Obasogie (Singida Blackstars, Tanzania), Maduka Okoya (Udinese FC, Italy), Francis Uzoho (Omonia FC, Cyprus), and Ebenezer Harcourt (Sporting Lagos) are the players.

Defenders

Olaoluwa Aina (Nottingham Forest, England), Calvin Bassey (Birmingham City, England), Bruno Onyemaechi (FC Porto, Portugal), Igoh Ogbu (Slavia Prague, Czech Republic), Ryan Alebiosu (Blackburn Rovers, England), Adekunle Adeleke (Abia Warriors), William Ekong (Al-Kholood, Saudi Arabia), Calvin Bassey (Bir

Midfielders

Alex Iwobi (Fulham FC, England), Frank Onyeka (Besiktas FC, Turkey), Alhassan Yusuf Abdullahi (New England Revolution, USA), Christantus Uche (Crystal Palace, Belgium), Tochukwu Nnadi (SS Lazio, Italy), Peter Agba (Maccabi Haifa, Israel), and Tom Dele-Bashiru (Gençlerbirligi SK, Turkey)

Forwards

Mohamed Salah was unappreciative of being dropped from Liverpool’s squad for their crucial 2-0 victory against West Ham, according to Arne Slot, who acknowledged his attitude on Tuesday.

Following a terrible run of nine defeats in all competitions, Liverpool boss Slot made changes to the Egypt forward at the London Stadium on Sunday.

The 33-year-old misfiring Salah has only scored four Premier League goals this year, which is a low figure compared to Salah’s 29 last season, which earned him the Golden Boot.

Salah was a “superhuman being,” according to Slot, who led Anfield under his leadership, but he had not been at his best recently.

There are times when you become human while playing for the club, like with all players around the world,” he said. He has scored so many goals for us, but I’m confident he will. ”

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Salah’s reaction to being left out impressed Slot, whose eighth-placed team takes on Sunderland on Wednesday, according to Slot, who praised his professionalism and said he was not surprised by Salah’s attitude.

That is a typical response from a player who is capable enough to play for us, he said. He has been a great asset to this club for many years and will continue to do so in the future.

A player is obviously unhappy when they aren’t playing, so yeah. I can tell you that he wasn’t the only one who wasn’t content that he wasn’t beginning. ”

Salah had praised his teammates, according to the Dutchman.

If you go with your feelings, you can’t be a player who is available every three days and play to that high standard.

But Mo is so disciplined and knows how to stay in shape, and he will always be that elite professional no matter where he plays or where he doesn’t play. ”

Salah is scheduled to depart for the Africa Cup of Nations on December 15 according to Slot.

In these situations, there are a player involved, Egypt is involved, and the club is involved, as always. And there are discussions ongoing about what works best for all three of us, he added.

Meanwhile, Regis Le Bris, the manager of Sunderland, claimed his players were looking forward to playing at Anfield despite their newly promoted side currently ranking sixth overall.

He said, “We worked hard to have the privilege of playing this kind of game.” We want to live this kind of experience, even though it is a challenging situation and a difficult game. ”

The Frenchman continued, “Liverpool will be strong, the place (Anfield) is impressive, but we also want to be competitive, so we’ll see.” ”