Mbappé scores twice in Real Madrid's narrow Copa del Rey win over 3rd-tier Talavera

MADRID (AP) — Kylian Mbappé scored twice and Real Madrid beat third-division club Talavera 3-2 in the round of 32 of the Copa del Rey on Wednesday.

Mbappé converted a 41st-minute penalty and sealed the victory late in the second half with a shot from outside the area for his 10th goal in his last six matches in all competitions with Madrid. Mbappé also was involved in the play that led to an own-goal by Manuel Farrando in first-half stoppage time.

“He was decisive," Madrid coach Xabi Alonso said. "Kylian has that knack for scoring. The third goal was key, which is why we kept him on the pitch and why he started.”

Talavera cut Madrid's lead with goals by Nahuel Arroyo in the 80th and Gonzalo Di Renzo in second-half stoppage time, but Madrid held on to avoid the upset that would have put Alonso under increased pressure following a series of disappointing results recently.

A tough save by Madrid goalkeeper Andriy Lunin in the final minute was key to secure Madrid the win.

Madrid struggled late but had been in control from the start despite playing without a few regular starters.

“In the first half, we controled the game well and took the lead, but not making it 3-0 left the game open, and it remained that way until the end," Alonso said. “The second half was competitive. We looked for the third goal earlier and had chances, but it wasn’t to be. It was an exciting tie. It’s a special competition. Objective achieved, and on to the next game.”

Madrid closes 2025 at Sevilla in the Spanish league on Saturday.

Antoine Griezmann scored a goal in each half as Atletico held on for a hard-fought 3-2 win over Atletico Baleares.

Atletico led 2-0 and 3-1, but the hosts kept threatening to the end. Baleares missed an 80th-minute penalty before pulling closer in the 90th. Giacomo Raspadori also scored for Atletico.

It was the third win in a row for Diego Simeone’s team in all competitions after it had lost two consecutive in the Spanish league, where it sits in fourth place behind Villarreal.

Top-flight clubs Villarreal, Celta Vigo and Levante were eliminated by lower-tier teams.

Villarreal, sitting third in the Spanish league and enjoying one of its best campaigns in years, lost 2-1 after conceding twice in the first half. Ayoze Pérez scored in the 86th but Villarreal couldn't complete the comeback. Juan Carlos Arana netted both goals for the hosts.

It was the second straight defeat for Villarreal in all competitions — it was coming off a 3-2 home loss to Copenhagen in the league phase of the Champions League. In the Spanish league, Villarreal has won six matches in a row.

Celta lost to second-division club Albacete 3-0 on penalties. The hosts forced extra time by scoring four minutes into stoppage time for a 2-2 draw in regulation.

Levante lost 1-0 to second-tier team Cultural Leonesa.

In a match between topflight clubs, Alaves defeated Sevilla 1-0 at home thanks to a 79th-minute penalty kick converted by Carlos Vicente.

On Tuesday, Barcelona defeated third-division club Guadalajara 2-0. The other first-division clubs that advanced Tuesday were Real Sociedad and Valencia, but Mallorca lost to second-division team Deportivo La Coruna.

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

Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe, right, vies for the ball with Talavera's Carreras during the Copa del Rey soccer match between Talavera and Real Madrid, in Talavera de la Reina, Spain, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/M. Berengui)

Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham, right, reacts next to his teammate Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe during the Copa del Rey soccer match between Talavera and Real Madrid, in Talavera de la Reina, Spain, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/M. Berengui)

Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe celebrates after scoring from a penalty kick during the Copa del Rey soccer match between Talavera and Real Madrid, in Talavera de la Reina, Spain, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/M. Berengui)

Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe reacts during the Copa del Rey soccer match between Talavera and Real Madrid, in Talavera de la Reina, Spain, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/M. Berengui)

Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe celebrates after scoring from a penalty kick during the Copa del Rey soccer match between Talavera and Real Madrid, in Talavera de la Reina, Spain, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/M. Berengui)

Real Madrid's Franco Mastantuono, center, duels for the balls with Talavera's Iaiah Jeronimo during the Copa del Rey soccer match between Talavera and Real Madrid, in Talavera de la Reina, Spain, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/M. Berengui)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — As civil rights advocates protest, Republican lawmakers in several Southern states are seizing on the opportunity afforded by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling to redraw congressional districts ahead of the November midterm elections.

The latest state to jump on the redistricting bandwagon is Tennessee, where a special legislative session is to begin Tuesday, a day after a similar session kicked off in Alabama. In Louisiana, lawmakers also are making plans for new U.S. House districts after the Supreme Court last week struck down the state's current map.

The high court’s ruling said Louisiana relied too heavily on race when creating a second Black-majority House district as it attempted to comply with the Voting Rights Act. The ruling last week significantly altered a decades-old understanding of the law, giving Republicans in various states grounds to try to eliminate majority-Black districts that have elected Democrats.

It could lessen congressional representation for Black Americans and other minorities, reversing decades of gains in minority voting rights.

President Donald Trump has been encouraging more states to join in redistricting as Republicans seek to hold on to their narrow House majority in this year’s elections.

Alabama lawmakers heard testimony Tuesday on legislation that would allow a special congressional primary, if the Supreme Court clears the way for the state to change its U.S. House districts.

In light of the court's ruling on Louisiana's districts, Alabama officials have asked the high court to set aside a judicial order to use a U.S. House map that includes two districts with a substantial number of Black voters and instead let the state revert to a map previously passed by Republican lawmakers. That map could help the GOP win at least one of those two seats currently held by Democrats.

Alabama's primaries are scheduled for May 19. If the Supreme Court grants the state's request after or too close to the primary, the legislation under consideration would ignore the results of that primary and direct the governor to schedule a new primary under the revised districts.

“This is the voice of the people,” Alabama House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter said while promoting the Republican plan. “We had three judges determine how five million people were supposed to vote, and I don’t think that’s the way.”

During a House committee hearing, several Black residents urged lawmakers not to change the current congressional districts.

“Representation matters — not just politically but in access, in power and in who gets to be heard,” said Eliza Jane Franklin, of rural Barbour County.

Republican Gov. Bill Lee called Tennessee lawmakers into a special session to consider a plan that could break up the state’s lone Democratic-held U.S. House district, centered on the majority-Black city of Memphis. The move comes after pressure from Trump.

The candidate qualifying period in Tennessee ended in March, and the primary election is scheduled for Aug. 6.

Some clergy members have denounced the plan to split Memphis’ congressional district, and Martin Luther King III sent a letter to Tennessee legislative leaders expressing “grave concern” about it.

“This decision undermines the work that my father, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., carried out to help secure passage of the Voting Rights Act,” he wrote, noting that his father was assassinated in Memphis. He added: “Do not dismantle the only Congressional district that provides Black voters in Memphis a fair opportunity to have a voice in our democracy. Do not take this nation back to the days of Jim Crow.”

After last week’s Supreme Court decision, Louisiana moved to delay its May 16 congressional primary to allow time for lawmakers to approve new U.S. House districts.

Louisiana state Sen. Caleb Kleinpeter, a Republican who chairs a Senate committee tasked with redistricting, told The Associated Press that his committee plans to hold a public hearing Friday. Kleinpeter said lawmakers are still weighing their options, including bills that would eliminate one or both of the state’s two majority-Black Congressional districts.

Democrats and civil rights groups have filed several lawsuits challenging the suspension of Louisiana's congressional primary. They are encouraging people in Louisiana — where early voting already is underway — to go ahead and cast votes in the congressional primaries in case courts later allow them to be counted.

Legislative voting districts typically are redrawn only once a decade, after a census, to account for population changes. But Trump urged Texas Republicans last year to redraw U.S. House districts to give the party an advantage. Democrats in California responded by doing the same, and then other states joined in.

Florida became the eighth state to enact new House districts when Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on Monday he had signed a redrawn map passed by the GOP-controlled Legislature. It could help Republicans win as many as four additional House seats. The new map was immediately challenged in court as a partisan gerrymander that violates a Florida constitutional provision against drawing districts that favor one political party over another.

All told, Republicans think they could gain as many as 13 seats from new congressional districts in five states, while Democrats think they could pick up as many as 10 seats from new districts adopted in three states. The newly proposed redistricting in Southern states could add to the Republicans’ tally.

Chandler reported from Montgomery, Alabama, and Lieb from Jefferson City, Missouri. Associated Press writers Jack Brook in New Orleans and Nicholas Riccardi in Denver contributed to this report.

A woman protests against a special session of the state legislature to redraw U.S. Congressional voting maps Tuesday, May 5, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

People protest against a special session of the state legislature to redraw U.S. Congressional voting maps Tuesday, May 5, 2026, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

FILE - Pansies bloom in front of the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Ala., April 11, 2008. (AP Photo/Dave Martin, File)

FILE - The Tennessee Capitol is seen, Jan. 22, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, File)