Racing Santander 0-3 Real Madrid: Kylian Mbappé's penalty opens the floodgates in a sixth straight win

Real Madrid did not wait long to settle this one. Kylian Mbappé converted a penalty in the 11th minute, Jude Bellingham doubled the lead ten minutes later with Arda Güler supplying the pass, and by the half-hour mark Yan Diomande had volleyed in a third. What had looked on paper like a routine away trip to a team struggling near the bottom of the table turned, inside 36 minutes, into exactly that.

Racing Santander, already well off the pace in La Liga, had no response. Jeanuël Belocian and Iker Luque were both booked before half-time trying to stem the bleeding, but by then the game was already decided — Real Madrid simply managed the remaining hour without needing to force the issue further.

A front three with a goal each

The symmetry of the scoring — one goal apiece for Mbappé, Bellingham and Diomande — is a reminder of how many different routes to goal this Real Madrid side now has. Mbappé's was the simplest, a spot kick after a foul inside the area; Bellingham's came from a clean passing move finished off by Güler's delivery; Diomande's was the pick of the three, a volley struck first time rather than taken down and settled. Real Madrid finished with seven shots on target to Racing's one, and completed 471 of their 529 passes (89%) to the hosts' 387 of 457 (85%), numbers that reflect a team that barely had to come out of second gear.

Thibaut Courtois was almost a spectator at the other end, Racing's solitary shot on target never testing him seriously. With the game won so early, Carlo Ancelotti had the luxury of resting Endrick, Brahim Díaz and Eduardo Camavinga off the bench rather than needing impact substitutes to chase a result.

Match facts

• 11' — Kylian Mbappé (Real Madrid), penalty
• 21' — Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), assisted by Arda Güler
• 36' — Yan Diomande (Real Madrid), volley

Line-ups

• Racing Santander (4-2-3-1): Agirrezabala; Belocian, Ramon, Martín, Mantilla; Canales, Prati; Martín, Zabiri, Vicente, Luque
• Real Madrid (4-2-3-1): Courtois; Huijsen, Konaté, Cucurella, Alexander-Arnold; Bellingham, Tchouaméni; Silva, Mbappé, Diomande, Güler

Six wins in a row

This is Real Madrid's sixth straight win across all competitions, a run that already included a 4-1 defeat of Sevilla, a 4-1 win over RB Leipzig in the Champions League and a 2-1 victory away at Barcelona in the last Clásico. Across those five previous wins alone they had scored 15 and conceded just six, and this result stretches that scoring run further while keeping a clean sheet in the process.

Racing's problems go beyond one afternoon

For Racing Santander, this was the third defeat in their last five league games, and their losses have not been close ones: a 2-7 thrashing by Barcelona and a 0-5 defeat to Celta Vigo sit on the same run of fixtures. Across their last five they have scored six and conceded 17, a defensive record that leaves them closer to the relegation zone than to mid-table safety with the season already past the quarter mark.

What's next

The win takes Real Madrid to 27 points, still 3rd and just one behind leaders Atlético Madrid, with games in hand on both sides above them worth tracking as the season develops. Racing Santander drop to 16th on 11 points, three points above the relegation zone and in need of a response before the gap to safety grows any wider.