MADRID (AP) — Kylian Mbappé scored twice and had an assist as Real Madrid beat Athletic Bilbao 3-0 to end a three-match winless streak in the Spanish league on Wednesday.
Eduardo Camavinga also found the net for Madrid as it moved back within one point of Barcelona, which beat Atletico Madrid 3-1 on Tuesday.
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Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe celebrates after scoring his side's third goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid in Bilbao, Spain, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)
Real Madrid's Trent Alexander-Arnold, centre, walks off after being injured during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid in Bilbao, Spain, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)
Real Madrid's Eduardo Camavinga scores his side's second goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid in Bilbao, Spain, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)
Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe, left, challenges for the ball with Athletic Bilbao's Adama Boiro during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid in Bilbao, Spain, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)
Real Madrid's Eduardo Camavinga, right, celebrates with Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe after scoring his side's second goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid in Bilbao, Spain, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)
Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe celebrates after scoring his side's third goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid in Bilbao, Spain, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)
Both 19th-round matches were moved forward because Madrid, Barcelona, Athletic and Atletico will be playing in the Spanish Super Cup in January in Saudi Arabia.
Madrid was coming off league draws at Girona, Elche and Rayo Vallecano. It was Madrid's second win in its last six matches in all competitions.
“It was important, after three away draws, to get back to winning on the road,” Madrid coach Xabi Alonso said. "The team came out to play and win the match from the first minute, with good focus, intensity and rhythm. It was probably our best match this season.”
Mbappé has scored seven goals in his last three matches in all competitions. He had scored once against Girona, and netted four times at Olympiakos in a 4-3 Champions League win. The France star has 30 goals in 24 appearances between club and country this season and is the leading scorer in both the Spanish league (16 goals) and the Champions League (nine goals).
“Kylian is going through a great moment,” Alonso said. “He scored two great goals and moved well. His connection with Vini (Vinícius Júnior) was very nice."
Mbappé scored his first goal Wednesday in a breakaway in the seventh minute, picking up the ball near midfield and clearing a couple of defenders during his run before finding the net from the edge of the area.
Camavinga added to the lead with a header from close range in the 42nd after an assist by Mbappé, and the France international got his second goal with a nice shot from nearly 30 meters out in the 59th.
“At times I think to myself, 'How lucky I am to have him on my team and not have to face him, except maybe against France,” said Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, a Belgian international. "He’s unstoppable, we really enjoy watching him play.”
Camavinga had to be replaced in the 69th with an apparent injury. Madrid also lost Trent Alexander-Arnold because of an injury in the 55th.
Athletic, sitting in eighth place, has only two wins in its last eight matches.
Madrid hosts Celta Vigo on Sunday in its return to the Santiago Bernabeu stadium. Athletic hosts fourth-place Atletico on Saturday.
In the second round of the Copa del Rey, top-flight Girona was eliminated by third-division club Ourense 2-1, while Villarreal edged fourth-division team Antoniano on penalties. Elche needed extra time to get past fourth-tier club Quintanar del Rey. All other first-division teams playing on Wednesday advanced.
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Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe celebrates after scoring his side's third goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid in Bilbao, Spain, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)
Real Madrid's Trent Alexander-Arnold, centre, walks off after being injured during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid in Bilbao, Spain, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)
Real Madrid's Eduardo Camavinga scores his side's second goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid in Bilbao, Spain, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)
Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe, left, challenges for the ball with Athletic Bilbao's Adama Boiro during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid in Bilbao, Spain, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)
Real Madrid's Eduardo Camavinga, right, celebrates with Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe after scoring his side's second goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid in Bilbao, Spain, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)
Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe celebrates after scoring his side's third goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid in Bilbao, Spain, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)
HELSINGBORG, Sweden (AP) — NATO allies and defense officials expressed bewilderment Friday at U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement that he would send 5,000 U.S. troops to Poland just weeks after ordering the same number of forces pulled out of Europe.
The apparent change of mind came after weeks of statements from Trump and his administration about reducing — not increasing — the U.S. military footprint in Europe. Trump's initial order set off a flurry of action among military commanders and left allies already doubtful about America's commitment to Europe's security to ponder what forces they might have to backfill on NATO's eastern flank with Russia and Ukraine.
Earlier this month, the Trump administration said it was reducing levels in Europe by about 5,000 troops, and U.S. officials confirmed about 4,000 service members were no longer rotating into Poland from Germany. The dispatch to Germany of U.S. personnel trained to fire long-range missiles was also halted.
But in a post on Truth Social on Thursday, Trump said he would now send "an additional 5,000 Troops to Poland,” citing his strong ties with Polish President Karol Nawrocki, whom Trump endorsed in elections last year.
“It is confusing indeed, and not always easy to navigate,” Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard told reporters Friday at a meeting she was hosting of her NATO counterparts, including U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Ministers from the Netherlands and Norway were sanguine about Trump’s latest move, as was Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže, who said allies knew the U.S. troop “posture was being reconsidered, and now there is no change of posture. For now.”
U.S. defense officials also expressed confusion. “We just spent the better part of two weeks reacting to the first announcement. We don’t know what this means either,” said one of two officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters.
But Rubio said Washington’s allies understand that changes in the U.S. troop presence in Europe will come as the Trump administration reevaluates its force needs. “I think there’s a broad recognition that there are going to be eventually less U.S. troops in Europe than there has historically been for a variety of reasons,” he said.
The latest surprise came despite a U.S. pledge to coordinate troop deployments, including one from NATO’s top military officer, U.S. Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkewich, on Wednesday.
Trump's initial announcement that he would withdraw troops came as he fumed over remarks by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who said that the U.S. was being “humiliated” by the Iranian leadership and criticized what he called a lack of strategy in that war.
Trump told reporters that the U.S. would be cutting even more than 5,000 and also announced new tariffs on European cars. Germany is the continent’s biggest auto producer.
Rubio insisted that Trump’s decision “is not a punitive thing. It’s just something that’s ongoing.”
About 80,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Europe. The Pentagon is required to keep at least 76,000 troops and major equipment on the continent unless NATO allies are consulted and there is a determination that such a withdrawal is in U.S. interests.
The withdrawal of 5,000 troops might drop numbers below that limit.
But Trump's latest post suggests that troop numbers in Europe would not change. Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski welcomed the decision to send more forces to his country, saying it ensures that “the presence of American troops in Poland will be maintained more or less at previous levels.”
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte also welcomed the move. On Thursday, before Trump took to Truth Social again, Rutte had underlined that it was important for Europe to take care of its own security. “We have a process in place. This is normal business,” he told reporters.
At NATO headquarters in Brussels, meanwhile, U.S. officials briefed the allies on the Pentagon's aims for its commitments to the NATO Force Model, which involves contingency planning for Europe’s defense in the event of serious security concerns. It was widely expected that a further reduction of U.S. forces would be coming.
Asked whether any cuts were announced, Rutte said: “I’m afraid it’s much more complicated than that.” He said the procedure “is highly classified” and declined to give details.
Rubio played down concerns about a shift in U.S. force levels in Europe, saying: "Every country has to constantly reevaluate what their needs are, what their commitments are around the world, and how to properly structure that.”
Cook reported from Brussels. Associated Press writer Emma Burrows in London contributed.
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks with journalists during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Helsingborg, Sweden, Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, Pool)
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio, front second left, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, front left, speak with each other during a group photo at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Helsingborg, Sweden, Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, Pool)
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio, left, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte look at each other as they deliver a statement during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Helsingborg, Sweden, Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, Pool)
Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže speaks at the doorstep of the NATO foreign ministers' meeting at Sea U in Helsingborg, Sweden, Friday, May 22, 2026. (Johan Nilsson/TT News Agency via AP)
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio, left, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte deliver a statement during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Helsingborg, Sweden, Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, Pool)
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte speaks to media at the NATO Foreign Ministers' meeting in Helsingborg, Sweden, Friday, May 22, 2026. (Johan Nilsson/TT News Agency via AP)
Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrives with his wife Jeanette at Malmo Airport, Friday, May 22, 2026, in Malmo-Sturup, Sweden, ahead of a NATO foreign ministers meeting. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, Pool)
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, second from left, shakes hands with Prime Minister of Sweden Ulf Kristersson, as he is greeted by King Carl Gustaf of Sweden, Queen Silvia of Sweden and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden Maria Malmer Stenergard, right, before a dinner at Sofiero Castle in Helsingborg, Sweden, Thursday May 21 2026. (Johan Nilsson/TT News Agency via AP)
Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard speaks to media at the NATO Foreign Ministers' meeting in Helsingborg, Sweden, Friday, May 22, 2026. (Johan Nilsson/TT News Agency via AP)
