Real Madrid defeated Racing Santander 3-0 away at Estadio El Sardinero on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026, riding three first-half goals to their sixth straight victory across all competitions. Kylian Mbappé, Jude Bellingham and Yan Diomandé all scored inside the opening 36 minutes of the Matchweek 11 fixture, keeping Madrid third in the standings on 27 points.
The result leaves José Mourinho’s side three points behind league leaders Barcelona, who moved to 30 points earlier in the weekend with a 6-1 rout of Alavés, and one point behind second-place Atlético Madrid, according to Rediff. For the hosts, the loss ended an unbeaten start at El Sardinero in the 2026-27 league campaign, where they had collected all 11 of their points prior to Sunday.
Mbappé broke the deadlock in the 11th minute from the penalty spot after Matteo Prati fouled him inside the area, sending goalkeeper Julen Agirrezabala the wrong way for his 12th league goal of the season, beIN SPORTS reported. Ten minutes later, Arda Güler slipped a pass through to Bellingham, who rounded Agirrezabala in the 22nd minute to double the lead and reach 50 career goals for Real Madrid across all competitions. Diomandé capped the scoring in the 36th minute with a hard strike from distance before halftime.
Reactions to the Racing Santander vs Real Madrid match
Bellingham pointed to the importance of maintaining momentum after Madrid’s 2-1 El Clásico win at Barcelona on Oct. 25 and their 4-1 UEFA Champions League victory over RB Leipzig on Oct. 21. Speaking on Real Madrid TV after the final whistle, the English midfielder said it was vital to follow up the Camp Nou victory with three points, as quoted by Marca.
Reflecting on his 50-goal milestone and Diomandé’s first-half strike, Bellingham praised his young teammate’s shooting power, saying on Real Madrid TV (translated from Spanish) that he did not know Diomandé could hit a ball like that and calling him a special player they are happy to have in the squad.
Thibaut Courtois wore the captain’s armband on his first visit to El Sardinero in roughly 15 years and finished with one save to secure the clean sheet. That stop came in the first half when a misplaced pass by Bernardo Silva left Courtois to block a quick low shot between his legs with his foot. Courtois told Real Madrid TV that wearing the armband was an honor and a source of pride, though he acknowledged that Madrid lowered their intensity after the third goal and dropped their tempo too much in the second half.
Across the 90 minutes, Real Madrid controlled 53% of possession, outshot the home side 15 to 4, put six shots on target to Racing’s one, and completed 451 of 500 passes at 90% accuracy. Jeanuël Belocian and Iker Luque Sierra were booked for the hosts in the first half, while Madrid finished without a card.
VAR penalty disputes and Champions League rotation
Officiating dominated the post-match discussion after two penalty decisions by referee Juan Martínez Munuera Montero. In the 75th minute, Munuera Montero initially awarded Racing Santander a spot kick for a handball against Aurélien Tchouaméni, then overturned the call after checking the pitchside VAR monitor and seeing the ball had deflected off a rebound.
Racing Santander head coach José Alberto told broadcaster DAZN that the overturned second-half handball was interpreted properly because that is what VAR is for, but he objected strongly to Mbappé’s 11th-minute penalty. José Alberto argued that contact is allowed in football as long as a player is not pulled down or grabbed, adding that while a great Real Madrid side dominated his team for the first half hour, the opening penalty call conditioned the entire match. Referencing an earlier press conference remark by Mourinho, José Alberto added on DAZN that VAR was possibly on vacation again on Sunday. Munuera Montero remained on the pitch after the final whistle to explain his decisions to José Alberto and several home players, who left unconvinced.
In his post-match press conference, Mourinho said it was obvious Tchouaméni’s handball was never a penalty because of the deflection, while praising the home crowd at El Sardinero for pushing their team even at 0-3 down. Sunday’s match was the first competitive meeting between the two clubs since February 2012, which also took place during Mourinho’s first spell in charge of Madrid.
Mourinho used only three of his five available substitutions, bringing on Brahim Díaz in the 66th minute, Eduardo Camavinga in the 76th and Endrick in the 84th. Trent Alexander-Arnold, chosen at right-back ahead of Denzel Dumfries for his technical quality after a spell out of the lineup, played the full 90 minutes alongside Tchouaméni.
Mourinho explained that several starters from Sunday’s lineup will sit on the bench when Real Madrid travel to face AEK Athens in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026, so keeping Tchouaméni on for the full match made sense. He also criticized the domestic scheduling ahead of a European week, saying Spanish football should want its clubs in Europe to keep winning. Real Madrid and Racing Santander are scheduled to meet again in Matchweek 36 at the Santiago Bernabéu on May 16, 2027.