Mbappe the 'Real deal,' FA Cup upsets and Kvara's first PSG goal

Kick your Monday off with all the news from this past weekend

Good morning and happy Monday!

As most of you awake from your Super Bowl hangover, here’s more football for you — the kind played with a round ball by most of the planet.

And what many on this planet saw this past weekend was confirmation of what we know: Real Madrid always find a way to get points (arguing penalty-kick decisions, while Kylian Mbappe remains in top form), Manchester City are in real trouble and Paris Saint-Germain look to be on their way to another league crown.

Here are the major storylines from this past weekend:

La Liga: Real Madrid and Atleti play to 1-1 draw

Kylian Mbappe marked his first capital derby in style, netting the equalizer as Real Madrid fought back for a 1-1 draw on Saturday against Atletico Madrid to maintain its slim lead atop La Liga.

Mbappe’s goal came just five minutes into the second half, leveling the score after Atletico had taken the lead with a penalty from Julian Alvarez in the 35th minute — the first awarded against Real Madrid all season in La Liga.

“I don’t want to get into the controversy. I prefer to talk about the match,” Ancelotti said of the VAR decision to award Atleti the penalty kick. “We came out of the game with a draw, encouraged. The team was good, especially in the second half.”

Mbappe’s crucial strike ensured Madrid stayed a point ahead of their second-place city rivals. For Real Madrid, the draw was also a solid result. A spate of injuries had left manager Carlo Ancelotti relying on a makeshift backline of Lucas Vazquez, midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni playing out of position at center back, Raul Asencio and Fran García.

While Real Madrid pushed for a winner, with Jude Bellingham hitting the crossbar and a series of saves from Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Jan Oblak denying Rodrygo, Vinicius Jr. and Mbappe, the points were ultimately shared at the Santiago Bernabeu.

The French striker has scored 16 league goals in his first league campaign with the Spanish giants, just two behind league-leader Robert Lewandowski of Barcelona.

FA Cup: Man City survive and advance, while Liverpool left stunned

The “magic of the FA Cup” almost came to bite Manchester City in the behind after Pep Guardiola’s men survived a scare on the road Saturday against third-tier Leyton Orient to advance to the fifth round of the FA Cup.

While Guardiola’s team eventually fought back to win 2-1 against Orient on Saturday, the lower division side threatened to pull off a famous upset when it led 1-0 at halftime against Guardiola’s four-time defending Premier League champion.

It took goals from substitutes Abdukodir Khusanov and Kevin De Bruyne to secure the win for Man City at Brisbane Road.

“It was impossible to control,” Guardiola said. ”We played with character, and we are in the next round and it’s always nice.”

Man City has had a tough season and are currently just fifth in the Premier League table.

On Sunday, an FA Cup upset did take place when Liverpool suffered a shock 1-0 defeat against Plymouth Argyle, a blemish on the club’s otherwise excellent season.

The fourth-round defeat ended Liverpool’s hopes of winning an unprecedented quadruple this year. Plymouth are currently bottom of the second-tier Championship and a huge underdog against the Premier League leaders.

For all the latest FA Cup results, click here.

Ligue 1: Kvaratskhelia scores first goal for league-leading PSG

New signing Khvicha Kvaratskhelia scored his first goal for PSG when the unbeaten Ligue 1 leaders routed third-placed Monaco 4-1 on Friday.

The winger joined from Napoli for $72 million during the January transfer window and with a reputation for clinical finishing. Kvaratskhelia showed a bit of both in the 54th minute, controlling a pass with his right foot, cutting quickly inside Christian Mawissa and scooping the ball off balance over goalkeeper Radoslaw Majecki.

That made it 2-1 and, three minutes later, Ousmane Dembélé added the third goal. He tapped in from close range in the last minute following a counterattack to extend his league-leading tally to 16 goals.

PSG led in the sixth minute when Vitinha curled a free kick into the bottom right corner. But he was helped by a major positional error from Majecki, who left a huge gap.

The Paris-based club maintained has a 13-point lead in the table over second-placed Olympique Marseilles, 2-0 winners against Angers.

In other news: Defending champion Bayer Leverkusen was unable to keep pace with league leader Bayern Munich on Saturday as it was held scoreless in Wolfsburg less than 24 hours after Bayern eased to a 3-0 win over Werder Bremen. It leaves Leverkusen eight points behind Bayern before it hosts the Bavarian powerhouse for a top-two meeting next Saturday. Leverkusen had been hoping to use that game to cut the gap to three points, but the slip-up at Wolfsburg means it will take an unprecedented collapse from Bayern for Leverkusen to defend its first ever league title. … Fueled by England and Saudi Arabia, FIFA said clubs spent a record $2.35 billion on international transfer deals in a booming January trading period for men’s soccer. The 5,863 international transfers — those between clubs in different countries that are processed by FIFA — also was 900 more than the previous highest, which was recorded last year. In January 2024, only one transfer — Goncalo Ramos confirming a permanent move to PSG from Benfica — was valued at more than $31 million. … The English FA announced plans to “radically” redevelop the training base used by its national teams with a view to making them the “best in the world.” St. George’s Park, based in Staffordshire, has been widely credited for improvements that have seen England’s women’s team win the European Championship and reach the final of the World Cup. The men’s team reached back-to-back Euros finals and the semifinals of the World Cup since the base was opened in 2012. England has also enjoyed success at youth level in that time.