Mbappé starts new Champions League campaign with a goal in Real Madrid victory

MADRID (AP) — Kylian Mbappé renewed his quest to win a European title by scoring for Real Madrid in his first Champions League match with the club.

Mbappé found the open net after a cross by Rodrygo just seconds into the second half of Madrid's 3-1 win over Stuttgart at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

“It was a great night,” Mbappé said. “It was a tough match, as they always are in the Champions League, but it was important to start with the win at home.”

Mbappé celebrated with a gesture in which he appeared to blow candles and sending a kiss. Spanish media said it was to honor his mother's 50th birthday.

The goal gave defending champion Madrid a 1-0 lead before Stuttgart equalized with Deniz Undav in the 68th. Antonio Rüdiger put Madrid back in front in the 83rd and substitute Endrick closed the scoring deep into stoppage time to seal the victory for the defending champions.

It was Mbappé's 49th Champions League goal, putting him in the top 10 of top scorers all time in the competition.

He has scored in three consecutive matches and has five goals in seven games with Madrid so far in all competitions.

“I can do more,” Mbappé said. “I'm feeling better match after match.”

Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was named the man of the match as he was key to keep Stuttgart from capitalizing on its many scoring opportunities.

Mbappé had been mostly quiet until scoring, with one of his clearest chances coming in the 25th minute after he entered the area and had his low shot was saved. He was free inside the area a couple of minutes later, but Federico Valverde’s low cross to the France star was intercepted by a defender.

Madrid struggled to created many significant scoring opportunities early on at the Bernabeu. It was Stuttgart that threatened the most, including with a couple on one-on-one situations and an attempt that hit the crossbar.

Vinícius Júnior also hit the crossbar for Madrid.

Mbappé won the 2018 World Cup with France but failed to win the Champions League in the seven seasons with Paris Saint-Germain, which was also on a quest for its first title in Europe’s top club competition.

The playmaker left PSG as a free agent at the end of last season to join Madrid following a decade-long pursuit by the Spanish powerhouse — a move could boost his chances of lifting the European trophy with the team that has won the Champions League six times in the last 11 years.

Mbappé reached the semifinals of the club competition in 2017 with Monaco, and was a beaten finalist in 2020 with PSG. He was also in the semifinals with PSG in 2021 and last season.

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Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Real Madrid and VfB Stuttgart at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, in Madrid, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. Real Madrid won 3-1. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Real Madrid and VfB Stuttgart at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, in Madrid, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Real Madrid and VfB Stuttgart at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, in Madrid, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe, right, celebrates with teammate Antonio Rudiger after scoring the opening goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Real Madrid and VfB Stuttgart at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, in Madrid, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Real Madrid and VfB Stuttgart at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, in Madrid, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The man who authorities say tried to storm the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner with guns and knives and tried to kill President Donald Trump will appear Thursday in court as a judge decides whether Cole Tomas Allen will remain behind bars while awaiting trial.

In pressing for Allen's continued detention, prosecutors have alleged that he planned his attack for weeks and tracked Trump's movements online before he ran through a magnetometer at the Washington Hilton while holding a long gun and disrupted one of the highest-profile annual events in the nation's capital.

Allen was injured during the attack but was not shot. A Secret Service officer was shot but was wearing a bullet-resistant vest and survived, officials say. Prosecutors have said they believe Allen fired his shotgun at least once and that a Secret Service agent fired five shots. They have not publicly confirmed that it was Allen's bullet that struck the agent's vest.

In a letter to prosecutors on Wednesday, Allen's lawyers alleged that some of acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's statements “indicate that the recovered ballistics evidence is inconsistent with aspects of the government’s theory, evidence collected by the government and/or statements made by witnesses.”

The Justice Department, in response, said the evidence shows Allen fired his shotgun at least once in the Secret Service agent's direction. Investigators recovered at least one fragment at the crime scene that is consistent with a buckshot pellet, prosecutors wrote.

"The government is aware of no physical evidence, digital video evidence, or witness statements that are inconsistent with the theory that your client fired his shotgun in the direction" of the officer or that the officer "was indeed shot once in the chest while wearing a ballistic vest," prosecutors wrote.

Prosecutors said in court papers that Allen took a picture of himself in his hotel room just minutes before the incident, and that he was outfitted with an ammunition bag, a shoulder gun holster and a sheathed knife. In a message that authorities say sheds light on his motive, Allen referred to himself as a “Friendly Federal Assassin” and alluded obliquely to grievances over a range of Trump administration actions, according to writings sent to family members shortly before shots were fired Saturday night. The Associated Press reviewed the writings.

Allen's lawyers are pressing for his release, arguing in court papers that the government's case is “based upon inferences drawn about Mr. Allen’s intent that raise more questions than answers.” They defense noted that Allen's writings never mentioned Trump by name.

"The government’s evidence of the charged offense –- the attempted assassination of the president –- is thus built entirely upon speculation, even under the most generous reading of its theory," defense lawyers wrote.

Allen was charged on Monday with that crime, as well as two additional firearms counts, including discharging a weapon during a crime of violence. He faces up to life in prison if convicted of the assassination count alone.

Allen, 31, is from Torrance, California. He is a highly educated tutor and amateur video game developer.

President Donald Trump speaks in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House after an unspecified threat at the annual White House Correspondents' Association Dinner in Washington, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

This image contained in a court filing by the Department of Justice, April 29, 2026, shows some of the weapons and shotgun ammunition that Cole Tomas Allen possessed, Saturday, April 25, 2026 in Washington. (Department of Justice via AP)

U.S. Secret Service agents surround President Donald Trump before he was taken from the stage after a shooting incident outside the ballroom during the White House Correspondents Dinner, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

This image contained in a court filing by the Department of Justice, April 29, 2026, shows Cole Tomas Allen, left, inside his hotel room, on Saturday, April 25, 2026 in Washington, using his cellphone to take a photograph of himself in the mirror. An enhanced version of the image is right. (Department of Justice via AP)

U.S. Secret Service agents respond on stage during the White House Correspondents Dinner, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)