Real Hosts Racing

Real Madrid are looking to continue closing the gap on leaders Barcelona and second-placed Atletico Madrid when they face Racing Santander today in the eleventh round of La Liga. This will be Mbappe’s first match since the major controversy sparked by his comments about China. The French star appeared to be joking about former Chinese leader Mao Zedong, triggering significant repercussions. The “Galactico” player later apologized, as did his club and the Spanish league, while China stated it was taking the apology “seriously,” after a wave of outrage led to the suspension of La Liga matches and the cancellation of Chinese sponsorship deals with Mbappe. The original joke posted by Mbappe on heavily censored Chinese social media platforms was either not reposted or may have been deleted, while state media avoided any mention of Mao, limiting their coverage to stating that “the player made inappropriate remarks concerning China.”