Mbappé sent off in the 1st half but Real Madrid beats Alaves in Spanish league

MADRID (AP) — Real Madrid overcame Kylian Mbappé's red card for a reckless tackle in the first half to win 1-0 at Alaves and get back to within four points of Spanish league leader Barcelona on Sunday.

Mbappé was sent off shortly before the break after coming in hard for a studs-up challenge on Alaves midfielder Antonio Blanco.

The France star was initially shown a yellow card but the referee changed it to a red after video review.

Mbappé hadn’t seen a red card since 2019 while still playing for Paris Saint-Germain. He will miss at least the Spanish league game at Athletic Bilbao next Sunday.

“Kylian is not violent, he has apologized,” said Madrid assistant coach Davide Ancelotti, who was in charge on the bench because of a yellow-card suspension for his father, Carlo Ancelotti, who watched from the stands.

“He knows what he has done,” Davide Ancelotti said. “It's a clear red-card foul and he paid for it.”

Alaves also played with 10 men from the 70th minute after Manu Sánchez was sent off for a foul on Madrid forward Vinícius Júnior.

Eduardo Camavinga scored Madrid's winner with a shot from outside the area in the 34th. He hadn’t scored a goal since a Copa del Rey match in January.

Barcelona had increased its lead over Madrid with a 1-0 win at Leganes on Saturday.

The victory snapped Madrid’s three-game winless streak in all competitions, a run that included Tuesday's 3-0 loss at Arsenal in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals.

Carlo Ancelotti rested some of his regular starters ahead of the second leg on Wednesday in the Spanish capital.

“The victory gives us confidence," Davide Ancelotti said. “It was what we were looking for and we knew it wasn’t going to be easy.”

Alaves, which has only two wins in its last 11 league games, stayed in 17th place, just outside the relegation zone.

The match was briefly interrupted in the 70th because of some fans' “Die” chants against Madrid defender Raúl Asencio.

Both fourth-placed Athletic Bilbao and fifth-placed Villarreal won their matches. Athletic beat Rayo Vallecano 3-1 at home and Villarreal defeated sixth-placed Real Betis 2-1 on the road.

Athletic has a six-point lead over Villarreal, which has a game in hand. Betis is a further three points back.

Villarreal rallied with goals from Thierno Barry and Ayoze Pérez after Aitor Ruibal had put the hosts ahead three minutes into the match. It was Betis' first loss after nine games without defeat.

Athletic got a pair of goals by Oihan Sancet and one by Nico Williams against 10th-placed Rayo. The victory ended Athletic's streak of three straight draws across all competitions.

Osasuna beat Girona 2-1 to move to 12th place and end a three-game losing streak against the Catalan club in the league. It hadn’t won in nine matches in all competitions.

Girona, which had two goals disallowed, hasn’t won in nine straight league matches, with six losses and three draws. It sits in 16th place.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Real Madrid's Eduardo Camavinga, right, reacts after he scored the opening goal during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Alaves and Real Madrid at the Mendizorroza stadium in Vitoria, Spain, Sunday April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Miguel Oses)

Real Madrid's Aurelien Tchouameni, top, jumps to head the ball during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Alaves and Real Madrid at the Mendizorroza stadium in Vitoria, Spain, Sunday April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Miguel Oses)

Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe falls during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Alaves and Real Madrid at the Mendizorroza stadium in Vitoria, Spain, Sunday April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Miguel Oses)

Real Madrid's Raul Asencio, left and Alaves' Joan Jordan challenge for the ball during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Alaves and Real Madrid at the Mendizorroza stadium in Vitoria, Spain, Sunday April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Miguel Oses)

Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior lies on there pitch during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Alaves and Real Madrid at the Mendizorroza stadium in Vitoria, Spain, Sunday April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Miguel Oses)

Real Madrid's goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois jumps to catch the ball during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Alaves and Real Madrid at the Mendizorroza stadium in Vitoria, Spain, Sunday April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Miguel Oses)

Alaves' Abdel Abqar is helped off the pitch after getting injured during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Alaves and Real Madrid at the Mendizorroza stadium in Vitoria, Spain, Sunday April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Miguel Oses)

Alaves' Kike Garcia, centre right, gets past Real Madrid's Eduardo Camavinga, centre left during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Alaves and Real Madrid at the Mendizorroza stadium in Vitoria, Spain, Sunday April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Miguel Oses)

The referee speaks with Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe, centre and other players as Alaves' Moussa Diarra lies on the ground during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Alaves and Real Madrid at the Mendizorroza stadium in Vitoria, Spain, Sunday April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Miguel Oses)

Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe, 2nd left is shown a red card by the referee during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Alaves and Real Madrid at the Mendizorroza stadium in Vitoria, Spain, Sunday April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Miguel Oses)

Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe, 3rd left is shown a red card by the referee during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Alaves and Real Madrid at the Mendizorroza stadium in Vitoria, Spain, Sunday April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Miguel Oses)

ST. LOUIS (AP) — World champions Ilia Malinin and the ice dance duo of Madison Chock and Evan Bates will anchor one of the strongest U.S. Figure Skating teams in history when they head to Italy for the Milan Cortina Olympics in less than a month.

Malinin, fresh off his fourth straight national title, will be the prohibitive favorite to follow in the footsteps of Nathan Chen by delivering another men's gold medal for the American squad when he steps on the ice at the Milano Ice Skating Arena.

Chock and Bates, who won their record-setting seventh U.S. title Saturday night, also will be among the Olympic favorites, as will world champion Alysa Liu and women's teammate Amber Glenn, fresh off her third consecutive national title.

U.S. Figure Skating announced its full squad of 16 athletes for the Winter Games during a made-for-TV celebration Sunday.

"I'm just so excited for the Olympic spirit, the Olympic environment," Malinin said. “Hopefully go for that Olympic gold.”

Malinin will be joined on the men's side by Andrew Torgashev, the all-or-nothing 24-year-old from Coral Springs, Florida, and Maxim Naumov, the 24-year-old from Simsbury, Connecticut, who fulfilled the hopes of his late parents by making the Olympic team.

Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova were returning from a talent camp in Kansas when their American Airlines flight collided with a military helicopter and crashed into the icy Potomac River in January 2025. One of the last conversations they had with their son was about what it would take for him to follow in their footsteps by becoming an Olympian.

“We absolutely did it,” Naumov said. “Every day, year after year, we talked about the Olympics. It means so much in our family. It's what I've been thinking about since I was 5 years old, before I even know what to think. I can't put this into words.”

Chock and Bates helped the Americans win team gold at the Beijing Games four years ago, but they finished fourth — one spot out of the medals — in the ice dance competition. They have hardly finished anywhere but first in the years since, winning three consecutive world championships and the gold medal at three straight Grand Prix Finals.

U.S. silver medalists Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik also made the dance team, as did the Canadian-born Christina Carreira, who became eligible for the Olympics in November when her American citizenship came through, and Anthony Ponomarenko.

Liu was picked for her second Olympic team after briefly retiring following the Beijing Games. She had been burned out by years of practice and competing, but stepping away seemed to rejuvenate the 20-year-old from Clovis, California, and she returned to win the first world title by an American since Kimmie Meissner stood atop the podium two decades ago.

Now, the avant-garde Liu will be trying to help the U.S. win its first women's medal since Sasha Cohen in Turin in 2006, and perhaps the first gold medal since Sarah Hughes triumphed four years earlier at the Salt Lake City Games.

Her biggest competition, besides a powerful Japanese contingent, could come from her own teammates: Glenn, a first-time Olympian, has been nearly unbeatable the past two years, while 18-year-old Isabeau Levito is a former world silver medalist.

"This was my goal and my dream and it just feels so special that it came true,” said Levito, whose mother is originally from Milan.

The two pairs spots went to Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea, the U.S. silver medalists, and the team of Emily Chan and Spencer Howe.

The top American pairs team, two-time reigning U.S. champions Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, were hoping that the Finnish-born Efimova would get her citizenship approved in time to compete in Italy. But despite efforts by the Skating Club of Boston, where they train, and the help of their U.S. senators, she did not receive her passport by the selection deadline.

“The importance and magnitude of selecting an Olympic team is one of the most important milestones in an athlete's life,” U.S. Figure Skating CEO Matt Farrell said, "and it has such an impact, and while there are sometimes rules, there is also a human element to this that we really have to take into account as we make decisions and what's best going forward from a selection process.

“Sometimes these aren't easy," Farrell said, “and this is not the fun part.”

The fun is just beginning, though, for the 16 athletes picked for the powerful American team.

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Amber Glenn competes during the women's free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Alysa Liu skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Maxim Naumov skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Madison Chock and Evan Bates skate during the "Making the Team" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Gold medalist Ilia Malinin arrives for the metal ceremony after the men's free skate competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)