MADRID (AP) — Vinícius Júnior struck twice and Kylian Mbappé scored before going off injured as Real Madrid beat third-placed Villarreal 3-1 to move on top of La Liga on Saturday.
Moments after scoring in the 81st minute, Mbappé sat down and clutched his right ankle. The France star then made a gesture with his hands to signal he could not continue. Following brief treatment he walked off unassisted and went straight down the tunnel.
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Real Madrid's goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, left, and Eder Militao, right, challenge as Villarreal's Tani Oluwaseyi shoots on goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Villarreal at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe, centre, celebrates with Vinicius Junior, left, and Brahim Diaz after scoring his side's third goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Villarreal at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe celebrates after scoring his side's third goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Villarreal at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe, centre, celebrates after scoring his side's third goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Villarreal at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Villarreal at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
The win moved Madrid two points above defending champion Barcelona, which can reclaim the lead with a win at Sevilla on Sunday but is missing star winger Lamine Yamal with a pubic injury.
Vinícius netted in the 47th when he cut in from the left and his low strike clipped the heel of Santi Comesaña before wrong-footing goalkeeper Arnau Tenas.
Vinícius netted from the penalty spot in the 69th after being barged over. Mbappé is Madrid's usual penalty taker but let him have it, and Vinícius squeezed a tame shot under the body of Tenas as he guessed correctly.
Villarreal winger Georges Mikautadze pulled a goal back with a fine shot past Courtois from 20 meters.
But the hard work was undone when defender Santiago Mouriño was sent off four minutes later for a second yellow card following a foul on Vinícius.
Villarreal then lost the ball carelessly and Mbappé swapped passes with Brahim Díaz before guiding in his 14th goal in 10 games.
Struggling Girona picked up a much-needed win after holding on to beat Valencia 2-1 to move off the bottom.
Girona midfielder Iván Martín was sent off in the 80th for a second yellow card and his teammates kept out Valencia in 10 minutes of stoppage time.
Ukrainian striker Vladyslav Vanat put Girona ahead from outside the penalty area. Diego López equalized in the second half but Girona regained the lead shortly after through Arnau Martínez following a set-piece.
Elsewhere, Athletic Bilbao moved up to fifth place with a scrappy 2-1 win against Mallorca, which dropped to last.
Striker Iñaki Williams drew the foul and converted a penalty for Bilbao early.
After Samú Costa equalized in the second half, midfielder Alejandro Rego’s goal restored the lead five minutes later. Mallorca's Antonio Sánchez was sent off in the last minute.
Levante scored in each half in a 2-0 win at Oviedo.
Right winger Carlos Álvarez pounced in the 30th with a shot into the top left corner from Manu Sánchez’s cross.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Real Madrid's goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, left, and Eder Militao, right, challenge as Villarreal's Tani Oluwaseyi shoots on goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Villarreal at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe, centre, celebrates with Vinicius Junior, left, and Brahim Diaz after scoring his side's third goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Villarreal at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe celebrates after scoring his side's third goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Villarreal at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe, centre, celebrates after scoring his side's third goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Villarreal at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Villarreal at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
The College Football Playoff rankings are here.
Follow live updates from The Associated Press on the playoff bracket, with analysis and Top 25 voter answers to fan questions, all in one place.
Here's the latest:
By MAURA CAREY
Oregon (5), Ole Miss (6), Texas A&M (7) and Oklahoma (8) will each be playing at home after earning spots 5-8 in the College Football Playoff rankings.
Texas A&M will host No. 10 Miami. Oklahoma will welcome No. 9 Alabama for a rematch. Ole Miss takes American Conference-winner Tulane (11). Lastly, No. 12 James Madison, fresh off a Sun Belt championship win, will head to Eugene to take on No. 5 Oregon.
As expected, the Hoosiers earned the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye after beating Ohio State in the Big Ten championship game on Saturday.
Despite the loss, the committee opted to rank Ohio State No. 2 ahead of SEC champion Georgia. The Bulldogs earned their second straight first-round bye and top four ranking in the CFP bracket, coming in at No. 3.
Texas Tech rounded out the top four after beating BYU on Saturday. All four teams get the luxury of having the first round off and will resume game action in the quarterfinals.
By ERIC OLSON
Alabama would be on the outside looking if the College Football Playoff selection committee’s final rankings echo the new AP Top 25 poll. So would BYU, Vanderbilt and Texas.
And for the first time, there would be two Group of Five schools in the playoff, with James Madison joining Tulane on the bracket.
Here’s how the CFP bracket would look if it were based on the AP poll:
— No. 9 seed Notre Dame at No. 8 seed Oklahoma. Winner vs. No. 1 Indiana.
— No. 12 seed James Madison at No. 5 Oregon. Winner vs. No. 4 Texas Tech.
— No. 10 seed Miami at No. 7 Texas A&M. Winner vs. No. 2 Georgia.
— No. 11 seed Tulane at No. 6 Mississippi. Winner vs. No. 3 Ohio State.
The Associated Press Top 25 is out, with Indiana taking the No. 1 spot for the first time in program history. Now what will the final College Football Playoff rankings look like? We’ll find out at noon Eastern.
The order of teams in the AP poll and CFP rankings have been similar since the playoff selection committee started putting out its top 25 in November.
Indiana, Georgia, Ohio State and Texas Tech are the top four teams in the new AP poll. They were also the top four in last week’s CFP rankings and it’s a good bet the bracket will award those teams top-four seeds and first-round byes. It’s possible the committee would put Ohio State second and Georgia third based on the narrow margin of victory in the Big Ten title game.
Mississippi, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Notre Dame and Miami are teams 6 through 10 in the AP poll. AP voters moved Miami up two spots — ahead of Alabama and BYU. The Hurricanes will be hoping the committee follows suit, which would grant them an at-large bid.
AP Top 25 poll rankings
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
1. Indiana
2. Georgia
3. Ohio State
4. Texas Tech
5. Oregon
6. Ole Miss
7. Texas A&M
8. Oklahoma
9. Notre Dame
10. Miami (Fla.)
11. Alabama
12. BYU
13. Vanderbilt
14. Texas
15. Utah
16. USC
17. Tulane
18. Michigan
19. James Madison
20. Virginia
21. Arizona
22. Navy
23. North Texas
24. Georgia Tech
25. Missouri
By DAVE ZELIO
Indiana’s Tyrique Tucker and Drew Evans celebrate after the Big Ten championship NCAA college football game against Ohio State in Indianapolis, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)
One team that doesn’t have to sweat much today about the College Football Playoff announcement: Indiana.
At 13-0, the Hoosiers are the last unbeaten team in major college football after beating Ohio State in a thriller for their first outright championship since 1945. By beating the Buckeyes, Indiana ended the nation’s longest active winning streak at 16 and the Big Ten’s longest winning streak in a series between two teams.
In between, the Hoosiers shed the label of FBS’ losing-est program, too.
Most expect Indiana to grab AP’s No. 1 ranking and get the No. 1 CFP seed later today.
Duke tight end Jeremiah Hasley (85) scores a touchdown against Virginia in overtime of the Atlantic Coast Conference championship NCAA college football game Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman)
Duke’s overtime win against No. 16 Virginia in the Atlantic Coast Conference title game was something of a doomsday scenario for the league when it comes to the College Football Playoff.
The five-loss Blue Devils were unranked in the CFP, which raises the potential that the ACC could get shut out of the 12-team playoff later today. Sun Belt champion James Madison could secure the last automatic bid that goes to the five highest-ranked conference champions; three of those –- the Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC -– are locks and American champ Tulane is considered the fourth.
ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips says his league deserves two bids: one for No. 12 Miami as an at-large team and one for Saturday’s title-game winner.
Alabama, Notre Dame and Miami fans probably had something of a sleepless night ahead of the College Football Playoff bracket announcement.
Last week’s CFP rankings moved Alabama up a spot, raising the idea that the Crimson Tide have a cushion to make the bracket even if they lost to Georgia in the SEC championship game, which they did.
Notre Dame has won 10 straight games convincingly since starting 0-2, but had a lighter schedule than both Alabama and Miami, which handed the Fighting Irish one of those losses. Altogether those factors complicate the bottom of the playoff bracket.
It’s one of the biggest days on the calendar in college sports: The College Football Playoff will release its second 12-team bracket to kick off the postseason chase for the national championship.
We will kick things off soon with the final regular-season AP Top 25 football poll, so keep an eye for changes there that could foreshadow what you see in the CFP bracket.
There are eight teams that can feel pretty good about making the CFP, from Indiana to Ohio State and Georgia to Texas Tech and Ole Miss.
The final four slots are something else entirely. There is a lot of uncertainty on those and we will update you throughout the bracket release.
No organization has been ranking teams and naming a major college football national champion longer than The Associated Press, since 1936.
AP employees don’t vote themselves, but they do choose the voters. AP Top 25 voters comprise around 60 writers and broadcasters who cover college football for AP members and other select outlets. The goal is to have every state with a Football Bowl Subdivision school represented by at least one voter.
There is a 1-to-25 point system, with a team voted No. 1 receiving 25 points down to 1 point for a 25th-place vote. After that, it’s simple: The poll lists the teams with the most points from 1 to 25, and others receiving votes are also noted.
Voting is done online, and the tabulation is automated.
Indiana's Fernando Mendoza celebrates after the Big Ten championship NCAA college football game against Ohio State in Indianapolis, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)
