La Liga

Jude Bellingham's incredible stretch is carrying over to the video game world.

EA Sports revealed Wednesday that the Real Madrid and England star will be the cover athlete for EA Sports FC 25. It also dropped the trailer for the new game, which revealed that those who preorder it before Aug. 20 will receive bonuses such as one of 14 untradeable player items and up to seven days early access beginning Sept. 20.

Those who preorder the game can also start their player career with David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane or Ronaldo Nazário all while receiving extra FC points.

The opportunity to play as Beckham or Zidane is notable, as they are part of the EA FC 25 Ultimate Edition cover alongside Bellingham, the legendary Gianluigi Buffon and Barcelona's Ballon d'Or Féminin winner Aitana Bonmatí.

As for Bellingham, ESPN noted he is the youngest cover athlete for the global cover in the game's history at just 21 years old.

But it is a fitting selection, as all he did this past season was win Champions League, LaLiga and LaLiga Player of the Season with Real Madrid and help guide England to the final of the 2024 European Championship.

While England ultimately fell short in the final against Spain, it was yet another impressive accomplishment for someone who has quickly ascended to be one of the faces of the game.

"I played this game with my brother all the time growing up, and I've always thought about how incredible it would be to one day be featured on the cover," Bellingham said.

"There have been so many iconic players on the cover over the years, and I am delighted to be the most recent English player to be bestowed with this honour since 2011."

Gamers will have the chance to match Bellingham's accomplishments and perhaps even exceed them when EA Sports FC 25 is released in September.

Six weeks after signing with Real Madrid, Kylian Mbappé was formally introduced by the club to fans at Bernabéu on Tuesday.

The reigning La Liga champs held a ceremony at their home stadium where Mbappé got to wear his Real Madrid jersey in front of the crowd for the first time.

"Wow. It's incredible to be here," Mbappé said in Spanish to the crowd. "I dreamt for many years about playing for Real Madrid, and today that dream comes true. ... Since I was a kid I had one dream, to play here. Being here means a lot to me ... Now I want to achieve another dream, being at the level of this club, the best in the world. I can say one thing: I'll give everything for this club and this badge."

Los Blancos announced Mbappé's addition on June 3 after he revealed a few weeks earlier that he was leaving Paris Saint-Germain.

Per ESPN's Julien Laurens and Alex Kirkland, Mbappé's deal with Real Madrid is for five years and $16.2 million annually after taxes.

The Athletic's Mario Cortegana and Dermot Corrigan noted that adding Mbappé has been an "obsession" for Real Madrid president Florentino Perez dating back to 2012 when the dynamic forward was a 14-year-old who took part in a training session and attended a match against Espanyol.

Mbappé spent the past seven years with PSG and is the club's all-time leading scorer with 256 goals in 308 appearances. The club won six Ligue 1 titles and four French Cup titles with him on the roster.

Now, Real Madrid will look to continue its dominance with Mbappé joining a roster that already features Jude Bellingham, Vinícius Júnior, Rodrygo and Joselu.

Los Blancos is coming off a 2023-24 season in which they won the La Liga and Champions League titles. They will open the 2024-25 La Liga season against Mallorca on Aug. 18.

While his long-term future at Manchester City is the subject of some uncertainty, Pep Guardiola was more emphatic when it came to a potential reunion with Barcelona.

"It's a door that is closed," he told reporters Monday.

Guardiola spent more than a decade at Barcelona as a player and helped the club win three LaLiga titles and two Champions League trophies as a manager.

The 53-year-old referenced the challenges that come with coaching Barcelona.

"The Barça bench is one of the most complicated because you have to manage many cases," he said. "In Manchester everything we do remains inside and at Barça, everything comes out."

Even with Barcelona becoming the best club in the world and revolutionizing the tactics of world football, the extent to which the stress of the job steadily wore on Guardiola was evident in how much he seemed to physically age.

Guardiola, despite his deep ties to Barça and his Catalan roots, wasn't immune from the backroom politics that doomed managers before and after him at Camp Nou, either.

It's little surprise he wouldn't want to sign on for that experience again.

In addition, the general state of Barcelona has made this job a lot less attractive that it was during the height of the Guardiola era.

Club president Joan Laporta will eventually run out of "economic levers" to pull and his short-term measures to balance the books only make the future more perilous. The club also has one solitary semifinal appearance in the Champions League over the last nine years, a sign of how much it has fallen behind the curve relative to is continental peers.

For now, former Bayern Munich and Germany coach Hansi Flick faces the difficult task of returning Barcelona to the pinnacle of LaLiga.

"I wish him the best of luck in the world," Guardiola said.

Three fans were sentenced to eight months in prison for racially abusing Real Madrid star Vinícius Júnior at a match in May 2023, according to ESPN's Alex Kirkland and Rodrigo Faez.

The fans also received a two-year stadium ban.

"This ruling is great news regarding the fight against racism in Spain," LaLiga president Javier Tebas said. "It redresses the wrong suffered by Vinícius Júnior and sends a clear message to those people who go to a football stadium to hurl abuse. LaLiga will identify them, report them and there will be criminal consequences for them."

Vinícius Júnior discussed the news in a social media post:

Real Madrid also issued a statement on the verdict.

"The three defendants acknowledged their criminal liability and have released an apology letter addressed to our player Vinícius Júnior, to Real Madrid C.F. and to everyone else who felt offended and degraded by their behaviour," the club said. "As well as showing their remorse, the three defendants asked in their letter to fans that all forms of racism and intolerance be eradicated in competitions."

Madrid suffered a 1-0 defeat to Valencia at Mestalla. Vinícius received a red card in the seventh minute of second-half stoppage time following a confrontation with Valencia players. He ultimately avoided a suspension.

The Brazilian attacker addressed the incident on X after the match and contended that "racism is normal in LaLiga" (via Reuters).

"The competition considers it normal, the federation considers it normal and the rivals encourage it," he said. "The championship that once belonged to Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Cristiano (Ronaldo) and (Lionel) Messi today belongs to the racists. A beautiful nation, which welcomed me and which I love, but which accepted to export to the world the image of a racist country. I am sorry for those Spaniards who disagree but today, in Brazil, Spain is known as a country of racists. I am strong and I will go all the way against the racists. Even if it is far away from here."

Racist chanting at Spanish matches long predated Vinícius' arrival, and what unfolded in Valencia wasn't the only instance in which he was a target of abuse. Atlético Madrid supporters purportedly called him a "monkey" during a September 2022 match. Real Valladolid suspended 12 of its club members in February 2023 after they verbally abused the 23-year-old.

During a press conference in March while on national team duty, Vinícius began to get emotional when discussing the racism he continues to experience.

Monday's conviction was the first ever stemming from racist abuse at a soccer stadium in Spain.

Cristiano Ronaldo is continuing to set new records, though this one is unlikely to be included in the legacy discussions.

Ronaldo's comment on Instagram to Kylian Mbappé's post celebrating his move to Real Madrid is purportedly the most liked ever on the social media platform.

Real Madrid confirmed Monday it signed the French forward to a five-year contract. The deal has been a long time coming in more ways than one.

Mbappé has been linked with the Spanish giant for years, and his Instagram post included photos from when he visited Madrid in 2012 at the age of 14.

Real Madrid has lacked a true heir to Ronaldo's throne ever since he left and signed with Juventus in 2018.

Karim Benzema won a Ballon d'Or in 2022 and Vinicius Júnior might be headed for the award this year. Neither has matched Ronaldo's prodigious scoring record (311 goals in 292 La Liga appearances), though, nor are they the same kind of worldwide star.

Mbappé has the potential to be that kind of figure in the years ahead, especially since he seems to have Ronaldo's blessing.

Cristiano Ronaldo starred for Real Madrid between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons, winning two La Liga titles and four Champions League crowns.

Now, he's excited to watch the newest Los Blancos' superstar, Kylian Mbappé, who officially joined the team on Monday:

It's very much a rich-get-richer scenario for Real Madrid, which is fresh off of winning both La Liga and Champions League this past season and is already loaded with attacking talent. The club already boasts the likes of Vinícius Júnior, Rodrygo, Brahim Díaz and Arda Güler and are also bringing aboard 17-year-old Brazilian wunderkind Endrick this summer.

But Mbappé is now the center of the Real Madrid universe, joining the legions of superstars who have preceded him, including Ronaldo.

The saga is finally over—superstar forward Kylian Mbappé is officially a member of La Liga powerhouse Real Madrid.

"A dream come true," he wrote on social media. "So happy and proud to join the club of my dreams, Real Madrid. Nobody can understand how excited I am right now. Can't wait to see you, Madridistas, and thanks for your unbelievable support. ¡Hala Madrid!"

The Mbappé-to-Madrid drama has been a winding tale.

In 2017, the 25-year-old was reportedly close to joining Los Blancos after his time at Monaco but instead decided to join PSG for a €180 million ($196 million) transfer fee. He went on to star with PSG and led France to a World Cup title in 2018 and a berth in the final in 2022, where he lost to Lionel Messi's Argentina.

In May 2022—amidst long-running rumors that Real Madrid were in a full-out blitz to sign him—Mbappé instead re-signed with PSG, shocking the soccer world. Real Madrid had reportedly offered PSG a $188 million transfer fee in 2021, but PSG turned down the offer and eventually retained the superstar.

"It was more than just staying at PSG. It was the World Cup in Qatar. It was many things around these things," Mbappé told Amanda Davies, Aleks Klosok and Martin Bourke of CNN.com about spurning Real Madrid in 2022. "It was a big decision, difficult decision... but I don't regret anything."

This summer Mbappé is joining Real Madrid on a free transfer.

While he won six Ligue 1 titles in seven seasons, he never was able to help PSG earn the ultimate prize, a Champions League title. The Parisian giants have never conquered Europe, and the hope was Mbappé would lead them there.

It wasn't to be, while Real Madrid have won three UCL titles since the 2017-18 season.

Now, one of the top superstars in world football will be joining arguably the most iconic club in the world. This particular marriage was a long time in the making.