Kylian Mbappé scored a hat-trick as Real Madrid beat Real Sociedad 4-1 at the Bernabéu on Wednesday in their first home match since the return of José Mourinho as head coach.
Mbappé put Madrid ahead in the 40th minute before Luka Sucic levelled four minutes later, but the France forward restored the hosts’ lead on the hour. Vinícius Júnior added a third in the 68th minute before Mbappé completed his treble 10 minutes from time.
It was a winning return to the Bernabéu for Mourinho, more than 13 years after his previous home match in charge of the club, as Madrid recovered from a disjointed first half with a ruthless display after the break.
Madrid were jeered before half-time after a sluggish opening in which they looked short of rhythm, careless in possession and vulnerable on the counterattack.
“There’s always a sense of justice in the boos and the applause, and the odd boo now and then doesn’t do anyone any harm – it helps you grow,” Mourinho said at full time. “We all know the Santiago Bernabéu and just how demanding the fans are here, and I’m very pleased with how my players responded under pressure and put in a great second half, in which we could even have scored more goals.”
Real Sociedad carried the sharper threat early on and almost went ahead in the 10th minute when Takefusa Kubo intercepted a loose pass near the edge of the box and slipped in Mikel Oyarzabal, whose close-range effort was kept out by Thibaut Courtois.
Fenerbahce upset Lyon in the Champions League playoffs on Wednesday to advance, while Viking Stavanger joined fellow Norwegians Bodø/Glimt in the league phase with victory over Dinamo Zagreb.
With the teams locked at 1-1 from the first leg in Istanbul a week ago, the Turkish giants opened up a 2-0 lead in the first half of the return fixture in France. Vedat Muriqi and English defender Archie Brown [pictured] were on target for the visitors, with winger Malick Fofana giving Lyon faint hope in the second half.
Viking hit back from a goal down on the night against Dinamo Zagreb, winning 3-1 in Norway and 5-3 on aggregate. Albania's Arber Hoxha gave Dinamo an early lead but Zlatko Tripic equalised from the penalty spot just eight minutes later. Two early goals in the second half from Edvin Austbø and Tobias Moi sealed Viking’s progress to their first Champions League group phase.
Barnabas Varga scored a double and former Real Madrid forward Luka Jovic added another as AEK Athens cruised into the league phase with a 4-0 thrashing of Levski Sofia. Romania's Razvan Marin added a penalty as the Greeks booked their progress following a 0-0 draw in the first leg in Bulgaria.
Panama’s Cristian Martínez scored the extra-time winner for Slovan Bratislava as they overcame Slovenian champions Celje. After a 1-1 draw in the first leg, Andraz Sporar gave the Slovakians an early lead at Celje but Svit Seslar equalised fom the penalty spot, before Martínez secured a 3-2 aggregate success. AFP
Champions League: qualified teams and predicted pots
Pot 1: Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Internazionale, Manchester City, Arsenal, Barcelona, Atlético Madrid.
Pot 2: Dortmund, Roma, Sporting CP, Aston Villa, Porto, Manchester United, Club Brugge, Real Betis, PSV Eindhoven.
Pot 3: Feyenoord, Lille, Bodø/Glimt, Napoli, RB Leipzig, Villarreal, Fenerbahce, Shakhtar Donetsk, Galatasaray.
