Mbappé teases Tchouaméni after his shot hits a child

“It’s Tchouaméni’s fault, he doesn’t know how to shoot,” Kylian Mbappé joked as he posed with the child struck by his teammate’s effort. The moment came on Sunday during Real Madrid’s 3-0 win at Santander in the 11th round of Liga. Madrid had followed up its Clasico victory from a week earlier with another win.

In the second half, Aurélien Tchouaméni sent a wayward attempt into the head of a child in the stands. The midfielder then went over to check on him and offered his shirt as an apology. Mbappé also approached the child and his family; he teased his teammate while taking a photo with them.

Maximo’s father described the incident as “just a scare”, recalling the brief alarm it caused. He also praised the response from the Madrid players. “Tchouaméni apologised and gave him a shirt; I want to thank him,” he said, adding that the most important thing was that everything was all right. The family had come to support Santander. The father also said they had taken photos with almost all of Real Madrid’s players and appreciated the club’s gesture towards his son.

The match came during a week unsettled by a diplomatic controversy with China. Mbappé opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 11th minute, with Jude Bellingham scoring in the 22nd and Yan Diomandé in the 36th. The result kept Real Madrid three units behind FC Barcelona. The game was played at El Sardinero, where the outcome once again favoured Madrid.

Tchouaméni was also involved in an officiating decision in the second half. With the score at 3-0, a penalty awarded to Racing de Santander was overturned for a handball by the Frenchman. Replays showed that he had touched the ball with his foot before handling it, with no intervention from an opponent.