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European wrap: Kylian Mbappe's late penalty rescues Real Madrid

Kylian Mbappe of Real Madrid scores a goal during the La Liga 2025/26 match between Real Madrid and Rayo Vallecano at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid, Spain, on February 1.
Kylian Mbappe fires home a late winner

Kylian Mbappe's stoppage-time penalty secured a 2-1 victory for Real Madrid over lowly Rayo Vallecano to cut Barcelona's lead at the top of La Liga to one point.

Real were running out of time when Nobel Mendy fouled Brahim Diaz, and Mbappe stepped up to tuck away his 22nd league goal of the season.

Vinicius Junior's 15th-minute finish had earlier been wiped out by Jorge de Frutos straight after the break.

Rayo finished the contest with nine men after red cards for Pathe Ciss and Pep Chavarria, while Real lost Jude Bellingham to a suspected hamstring injury.

Pablo Fornals scored a late winner to give Real Betis a 2-1 victory over Valencia.

Luis Rioja had put the visitors ahead but Betis equalised through Ezequiel Avila's penalty and Fornals pounced two minutes from full-time.

Inigo Ruiz de Galarreta scored two minutes from time to snatch a 1-1 draw for Athletic Bilbao against Real Sociedad, who led through Goncalo Guedes' goal but lost Brais Mendez to a red card, while Celta Vigo's trip to Getafe finished goalless.

Cremonese's Indonesia goalkeeper #01 Emil Audero reacts as a flare exlodes on the pitch during the Italian Serie A football match between US Cremonese and Inter Milan at the Giovanni Zini Stadium in Cremona, northern Italy, on February 1, 2026
Cremonese goalkeeper Emil Audero reacts as a flare exlodes on the pitch

In Italy, Cremonese goalkeeper Emil Audero needed treatment after a firework was thrown at him from the crowd during Inter Milan's 2-0 win at the Stadio Giovanni Zini.

Inter moved eight points clear at the top of Serie A thanks to a Lautaro Martinez header and a 30-yard strike from Piotr Zielinski.

Glieson Bremer scored twice and further goals from Weston McKennie and Jonathan David gave Juventus a 4-1 win at Parma, whose only response was via an Andrea Cambiaso own goal.

Atalanta drew 0-0 at Como despite playing almost the whole match with 10 men after Honest Ahanor's eighth-minute red card, escaping with a point after Marco Carnesecchi saved Nico Paz's late penalty.

A first-half goal from Che Adams gave Torino a 1-0 win over Lecce.

In France, Paris Saint-Germain returned to the top of Ligue 1 after a 2-1 victory at Strasbourg.

PSG led through Sunny Maluyu but were pegged back by Guela Doue and lost Achraf Hakimi to a red card before a late Nuno Mendes winner.

Noah Nartey's strike eight minutes before half-time was enough to earn Lyon a 1-0 win at home to Lille.

Louis Mouton fired Angers to a 1-0 victory over Metz, who had Jean-Philippe Gbamin sent off early on.

Second-half goals from Ali Abdi and Elyi Wahi helped Nice come from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Brest, while Toulouse drew 0-0 at home to Auxerre

Borussia Dortmund reduced the gap to Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich to six points after a 3-2 win over Heidenheim.

Dortmund found themselves 2-1 down after Julian Niehus' quickfire double cancelled out Waldemar Anton's opener.

But Serhou Guirassy also hit a brace, the first from the penalty spot, to win it, although he blew the chance of a hat-trick when he skied a second spot-kick.

Stuttgart beat Freiburg 1-0 thanks to Ermedin Demirovic's spectacular last-minute 20-yard strike.

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