MADRID (AP) — Kylian Mbappé came through for Real Madrid again, converting a penalty kick 10 minutes into second-half stoppage time to salvage a 2-1 win over Rayo Vallecano and move Madrid back within a point of Spanish league leader Barcelona on Sunday.
Vinícius Júnior also scored for Madrid after again being jeered by fans early on at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. Jude Bellingham, also booed when the lineup was announced, had to be replaced 10 minutes into the match because of a left hamstring injury.
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Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior, center left, heads for the ball during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Rayo Vallecano in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe, left, tries a shot during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Rayo Vallecano in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Rayo Vallecano in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe tries a shot during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Rayo Vallecano in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Rayo Vallecano in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Madrid was coming off a 4-2 loss at Benfica that dropped the team out of the eight automatic spots for the round of 16 of the Champions League. It will face Benfica again in the playoffs.
“We came from a tough defeat, one that nobody ever wants, in the Champions, a competition many of us aspire to win," Madrid midfielder Federico Valverde said. “We wanted to change that image, today we had the first opportunity, and I think we played a great game.”
It was a thriller at the Bernabeu on Sunday, with Mbappé giving Madrid the victory by coolly converting the last-gasp penalty for his eighth goal in five matches.
The result allowed Álvaro Arbeloa's side to keep pace with Barcelona, which won 3-1 at Elche on Saturday.
“It was a victory in which the players put a lot of energy, their soul,” said Arbeloa, who took over after replacing Xabi Alonso last month. “We needed the help of the fans and without their push we would not have achieved it.”
The boos toward Vinícius were subdued after he scored a superb goal in the 15th minute. The Brazil international cleared a couple of defenders before curling a right-footed shot into the top corner.
Rayo, which played a man down from the 80th after Pathé Ciss was sent off with a straight red card for a hard foul, equalized through Jorge De Frutos in the 49th.
Vallecano, which threatened at times at the Bernabeu, also saw Pep Chavarría shown a second yellow in the final minutes of added time.
Rayo, which has lost four straight in all competitions, had lost only one of its last five games against Madrid in the league. It dropped to 17th place, just outside the relegation zone.
Bellingham was on his own when he seemed to pick up the injury. He immediately grabbed the back of his leg with his left hand before going to the ground. He received medical assistance and seemed emotional as he left the field under his own power.
Madrid did not provide a timetable for Bellingham's recovery but Spanish media said he is not likely to recover in time to face Benfica in the Champions League playoffs.
The England international was replaced by Brahim Díaz, who five minutes later set up the Vinícius goal that made it 1-0 for Madrid. Díaz also prompted the foul of the penalty converted by Mbappé.
Mbappé had missed an open net in the 68th, hitting the crossbar after getting past the goalkeeper.
With the game tied 1-1 in the 64th, Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois came up with a crucial save on a one-on-one following a Rayo breakaway.
Iñigo Ruiz de Galarreta scored an 88th-minute equalizer as Athletic Bilbao salvaged a 1-1 draw at home against Basque Country rival Real Sociedad.
The visitors had taken the lead with Gonçalo Guedes' goal in the 37th. Sociedad played with 10 men from the 83rd after Brais Méndez was sent off with a straight red card.
Athletic, winless in six league games, moved to 11th. Eighth-place Sociedad was trying to win its fourth consecutive league match.
Pablo Fornals scored an 88th-minute winner to give fifth-place Real Betis a 2-1 win over 15th-place Valencia, which had won three in a row in all competitions. Chimy Ávila also scored for the hosts, three minutes after Luis Rioja had given Valencia the lead.
Seventh-place Celta Vigo drew 0-0 at 16th-place Getafe, which hasn't won in nine consecutive matches across all tournaments. Celta stayed winless in three straight games.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior, center left, heads for the ball during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Rayo Vallecano in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe, left, tries a shot during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Rayo Vallecano in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Rayo Vallecano in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe tries a shot during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Rayo Vallecano in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Rayo Vallecano in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
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)
