“Buenos dias a todos,” Kylian Mbappe said. “Bear with me, I’m going to try to speak in Spanish.”

No apology was needed. Mbappe’s excellent Spanish was perfectly understood by all 80,000 Real Madrid fans packed into the Santiago Bernabeu for his presentation last month.

“Wow, it’s incredible to be here,” Mbappe continued, clearly struck by the reception. “I’ve dreamed for many years of playing for Real Madrid. I want to especially thank all the ‘Madridistas’, because for many years they have given me a lot of affection, a lot of love, which went straight to my heart.“

It’s not uncommon for an arriving player to claim they have always dreamed of playing for their new club.

But it’s unusual for a signing to talk of feeling such love if they have regularly scored important goals against their new club, while regularly turning down public offers to come and play for them.

In this case, the message made sense. The story of Mbappe growing up as a Madrid fan and idolising former galacticos Zinedine Zidane and Cristiano Ronaldo is already part of Bernabeu folklore. He began learning Spanish as a teenager so he would be ready for his move to Madrid. Many in the Spanish capital viewed him as one of their own long before he arrived following his Paris Saint-Germain exit.

On the morning of his presentation, Mbappe visited Madrid’s training ground to greet his new coach Carlo Ancelotti and sign his contract with president Florentino Perez in the club’s offices. The ultra-modern facilities at Valdebebas, on the outskirts of Madrid, have changed a lot since his first visit in December 2012.

Back then, they pulled out all the stops to impress Mbappe, who turned 14 that week. Zidane, then an advisor to Perez without a formal role at Madrid after his legendary playing career, chaperoned him throughout. That was referenced in the forward’s July unveiling, when previously unseen footage of the pair in discussion during one of Mbappe’s trial games was shown.

Brutal el vídeo, con imágenes inéditas de Mbappé siendo niño en Valdebebas.

Aquí, con Zidane. @TheAthleticFC pic.twitter.com/vD0nSFp0Ee

— Mario Cortegana (@MarioCortegana) July 16, 2024

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Mbappe also had his first taste of the Bernabeu atmosphere that week, with Zidane hosting him and his family for a league game against Espanyol. It seemed like fate even then. As an eight-year-old, he had received a model of the stadium as a gift. “One day I’ll take you all to Real Madrid and we’ll sit in the VIP seats,” Mbappe told his parents that Christmas.

The game was not much fun from a Madrid perspective — Ronaldo and Fabio Coentrao scored, but Espanyol fought back for a 2-2 draw to leave Jose Mourinho’s team 10 points behind arch-rivals Barcelona in the title race.

But Mbappe left happy, especially because Zidane introduced him to Ronaldo after the game. A photo of the meeting was soon proudly displayed in his bedroom in the Parisian suburb of Bondy. Not that the teenage Mbappe and those around him allowed too much emotion to influence his career decisions.

The summer after he visited the Spanish capital, he turned down an offer from Madrid, entering Monaco’s youth system instead. “I wasn’t ready to go abroad and leave my friends and my country behind,” he later told Le Parisien.

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Kylian Mbappe and the story of Real Madrid’s decade-long ‘obsession’ to sign him

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But the connection between the boy from Bondy and the Bernabeu remained strong. Many in Madrid were watching as he made his Ligue 1 debut for Monaco aged 16, before scoring 26 goals in 44 games in his first full season.

In the summer of 2017, when Mbappe was still just 18, Madrid and Monaco’s hierarchy agreed a €180million transfer. But, reportedly on then-Los Blancos coach Zidane’s advice, he decided the smart choice was to join PSG instead. As luck would have it, Madrid and PSG were then drawn together in the following season’s Champions League last 16.

That meant Mbappe’s first taste of playing at the Bernabeu came against the team of his dreams in the February 2018 first leg. Mbappe’s cross around the half-hour mark was touched back by Neymar for Adrien Rabiot to sweep PSG in front, before Ronaldo scored twice in a 3-1 win for Madrid. Ronaldo also scored in the 2-1 victory in the return leg to take Madrid through.

Mbappe on his first trip to the Bernabeu with PSG in February 2018 (VI Images via Getty Images)

Mbappe won the World Cup with France that summer, and for a while he seemed fully focused on PSG.

But nobody in Madrid had forgotten about him. When Eden Hazard was signed from Chelsea in the summer of 2019, many Real Madrid fans chanted, “We want Mbappe,” at the Belgian’s Bernabeu presentation, causing some awkwardness for Perez.

UEFA then obliged again by drawing PSG and Madrid together in the 2019-20 Champions League group stage. Injury ruled Mbappe out of the first meeting in Paris, which PSG won 3-0, but his star power was shown by the 81,044-capacity Bernabeu selling out for the return game.

When the line-ups were read out before kick-off, Madrid fans whistled their own player, Gareth Bale, but cheered Mbappe’s name. On the pitch, two Karim Benzema goals put Madrid in control. Mbappe hardly featured, until Thibaut Courtois’ fumble handed him a tap-in.

Mbappe’s celebration of his 70th goal in just 100 games for PSG was surprisingly muted. The Bernabeu crowd reacted to their team conceding a goal by chanting, “Sign him now.” Madrid youth product Pablo Sarabia scored an unlikely equaliser for PSG to claim a 2-2 draw that meant both teams were set to qualify — but for many, the result was not the most important thing.

Instead, the conversations before and after the game were about how Madrid could get Mbappe to join. One story that week in Spanish newspaper El Mundo claimed an agreement was already in place for him to run down his PSG contract and join Madrid on a free transfer in the summer of 2022.

A free transfer for Mbappe remained the most likely outcome given PSG were not minded to sell.

Many at the Bernabeu assumed their club’s €180million offer in the summer of 2021, for a player with just a year left on his contract, was more about showing Mbappe they still wanted him than any real expectation of the bid being accepted.

That all added to the drama when Madrid and PSG were again drawn together in the Champions League last 16 in February 2022. Mbappe had four months left on his PSG deal and confidence was high around the Bernabeu that he would soon be theirs.

His fine display in the first leg in Paris led to even more mixed feelings. Playing wide on the left, he tormented Madrid right-back Dani Carvajal, who conceded a penalty by tripping him with an hour gone. Lionel Messi, then at PSG, took the spot kick, but Courtois saved.

Mbappe was not to be denied. With the game almost over, he bamboozled Madrid defenders Eder Militao and Lucas Vazquez, then shot hard and low into the far corner.

The Frenchman celebrates his goal against Madrid in February 2022 (Loic Baratoux/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

The passionate celebration that followed was much scrutinised. Some in Paris had questioned his commitment to the team still paying his significant wages. Madrid fans and executives were not sure what they felt — their team had lost a crucial game, but the glimpse of a potential future was thrilling. Marca’s cover the next day focused on the positive by proclaiming: “How good is Mbappe!”

Three weeks later in Madrid, Mbappe started the game playing even better. Courtois was forced into two difficult saves inside the first 12 minutes. Just after half an hour, a neat side-foot finish pinged into the narrow gap between ‘keeper and post, but the goal was disallowed because team-mate Nuno Mendes was offside. Soon afterwards, the seemingly inevitable happened as Mbappe raced clear and confidently fired home.

The Bernabeu crowd watched in silence. Early in the second half, Mbappe dummied Courtois and finished into an empty net, only for another offside flag to frustrate him. Still, PSG remained 2-0 up, and the tie was almost over.

Then came an error by visiting goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to help Benzema pull one back. Suddenly, energy surged through the stadium, PSG were stunned and Benzema knocked in two more to complete a hat-trick in less than 20 minutes as Madrid sealed another famous remontada.

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Mbappe had clearly been the outstanding player over the tie, but was out of the competition. He had also now witnessed the power and emotion of the Bernabeu when Madrid turned the tide like this, albeit from the other side. Most in Madrid believed it now even more likely he would soon experience that feeling himself in their iconic white shirt.

That was definitely the expectation the next time Mbappe appeared in the Spanish capital, for a visit with PSG team-mate Achraf Hakimi, a Madrid native and Morocco international who began his career at Real.

Details were breathlessly reported by Madrid-supporting media. Mbappe and Hakimi stayed at the Hotel Eurostars Madrid Tower, which is within a skyscraper built on the site of Real’s former training ground. They ate at meat restaurant Lena, not far from the Bernabeu, which is a favourite of Madrid players. They later visited the Opium Madrid nightclub, also often frequented by the city’s young footballers.

Mbappe himself announced his presence in the city on social media — widely taken as a hint he would soon be living there permanently, as the Frenchman and his camp must have known it would.

It all meant the shock and disappointment were even greater just a few weeks later, when PSG announced that Mbappe had agreed a new contract to stay with them. It was a bitter blow for many at the Bernabeu, which wasn’t fully dispelled by beating Liverpool to win another Champions League trophy in Paris.

After all that disappointment, Mbappe did not return to Madrid for two years.

In October 2022, it was reported he would accompany PSG team-mates including former Real players Sergio Ramos and Navas to a bullfight at the city’s Las Ventas arena, but he did not show. He visited Ramos’ stud farm near the defender’s native Seville the following month, but the Frenchman was not spotted anywhere near the Spanish capital.

Madrid fans still followed him closely. They cheered when he scored a hat-trick for France in the 2022 World Cup final in Qatar, and shared his pain when former Barcelona icon Messi’s Argentina won instead.

Last January, when it emerged he would leave when his contract ended this June, the extreme focus on everything Mbappe returned to the Bernabeu. Madrid supporters were doubly delighted in April when his brace dumped Barca out of the Champions League quarter-finals.

But the extent of their shared connection became clear only during Mbappe’s July presentation.

Mbappe in the Real Madrid dressing room in early August (Victor Carretero/Real Madrid via Getty Images)

He entered the Bernabeu’s shiny new press room beaming that day, while clutching the famous model of the stadium he had received as a kid almost two decades ago.

“I was under a lot of pressure this morning when I woke up,” he said in excellent Spanish. “I thought I must enjoy every second, if my nerves allowed me. The passion and love the fans have shown me is unbelievable. I feel like an adopted member of this family.”

Many new players make emotional statements on their first days at a new club, but the bond between Mbappe and Madrid has existed for over a decade. It just took a while to come to fruition — and on Wednesday night in Warsaw, as Madrid take on Atalanta in the UEFA Super Cup, we should finally see it in the flesh.

(Top photo: Diego Souto/Getty Images)

Like any world-class gymnast, Jordan Chiles is familiar with contortions and flips. But what she has endured since giving her all in the floor exercise at the Paris Olympics makes the most difficult routine seem like child’s play.

The latest: It appears that the head of the three-person Court of Arbitration for Sport panel that snatched her bronze medal has a conflict of interest because he is a lawyer who has represented Romanian interests for years.

Hamid G. Gharavi, president of the panel that also included Philippe Sands and Song Lu, is currently serving as legal counsel to Romania in disputes at the World Bank’s International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes, according to documents first reported by the International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution. Gharavi’s work on behalf of Romania dates back at least to 2011, according to his resume.

USA Gymnastics said it had been notified by the court that under its rules, the decision cannot be reconsidered “even when conclusive new evidence is presented.” The CAS verdict was cloaked in secrecy and the court published a terse, one-page statement confirming the decision, saying a detailed document outlining the reasoning behind the outcome eventually will be distributed.

Nevertheless, USAG said it would “continue to pursue every possible avenue and appeal process, including to the Swiss Federal Tribunal, to ensure the just scoring, placement, and medal award for Jordan.”

There is precedent for a CAS decision to be overturned because of bias. In 2021, the Swiss Federal Tribunal — the only body that can appeal a decision by CAS — requested a new hearing for a doping case involving Chinese swimmer Sun Yang, a three-time Olympic champion, because one of the panelists may have had an anti-Chinese bias based on his social media posts. The Swiss tribunal upheld the challenge and lifted Yang’s eight-year ban from swimming.

The Chiles case does not allege doping or cheating. The bronze medal in the floor exercise at the Paris Olympics was mistakenly denied her because judges calculated her score wrong, then awarded to her, then taken away and given to Romanian Ana Barbosu because CAS ruled the U.S. appeal was filed four seconds late.

The U.S. says it has video evidence that the appeal was filed within the allowed one-minute window, but that would fall under “new evidence” that the CAS panel refuses to consider. The Swiss Federal Tribunal only considers appeals that allege breaches of process, and whether Ghavari’s conflict of interest with respect to Romania falls into that category is unknown.

What is clear is that the appeal process is opaque. Experts say a foundation of arbitration is that members of a panel should be unbiased.

“The idea that those who decide disputes must be free of bias and able to render an award in favor of either side is a cornerstone of arbitration,” wrote Katherine Simpson, a professor at Cornell University who teaches conflict resolution. “This matter puts on the global stage the question of what, if any, restrictions are or must be placed on CAS arbitrators with respect to their independence and impartiality in the eyes of the parties.

“An arbitration is only as good as the arbitrators. There would appear to be a need for closer examination of this case, for the benefit of both Jordan Chiles and Ana Maria Barbosu.”

The Romanian Gymnastics Federation says it pushed for the bronze medal to be shared by Chiles, Barbosu and Romanian fourth-place finisher Sabrina Maneca-Voinea, whom the federation alleged was unfairly penalized for stepping out of bounds.

Instead, the International Olympic Committee ruled that Chiles must return her bronze medal, a decision that some believe the IOC could reconsider based on precedent. The IOC at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics gave gold medals to both Russia and Canada instead of taking the gold medal from the Russian pairs skaters after French skating judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne told her fellow judges that she put the Russian pair first in a backroom deal to get the Russian judge’s vote for the French team in the ice dancing competition later in the Olympics.

The Romanian federation and USAG also called for social media attacks against Chiles, Barbosu and Maneca-Voineao to cease. Chiles, who is Black, has been the target of a barrage of racist comments on social media. Her mother and sister responded in her defense and Chiles posted a trio of broken hearts on her Instagram story Saturday, announcing that she will be off social media for the time being for her mental health.

USAG issued a statement saying Chiles has been on the receiving end of “consistent, utterly baseless and extremely hurtful attacks on social media. … No athlete should be subject to such treatment. … We commend Jordan for conducting herself with integrity both on and off the competition floor, and we continue to stand by and support her.”

The AP Top 25 is out and it looked almost identical to last week’s Coaches Poll. At least one unranked team is guaranteed to make the College Football Playoff (no Group of 5 team is ranked), but my hunch is that two sleeper candidates will make it in.

Last year, Missouri finished No. 8 in both polls after going unranked in the preseason and didn’t get a single vote in the AP poll. The year before that, it was TCU that got shut out in the preseason poll and made it to the national title game. The year before that, Baylor finished No. 5, rising from the unranked.

Knowing that kind of history, there are probably six unranked teams with a legitimate shot to crack the Playoff in 2024 if things break right for them.

The Hokies found their identity offensively in the second half of 2023, winning five of their last seven games. Quarterback Kyron Drones ran all over Tulane in a 41-20 romp over the No. 23 team in the Military Bowl. Drones is an elite athlete who kept improving over the season, throwing 17 TDs and just three INTs.

Tech has a dynamic RB in Bhayshul Tuten — a terrific all-around back with good speed. The receiving corps is deep and athletic with 6-foot-5, 221-pound Da’Quan Felton (No. 22 on the Freaks List) being a matchup nightmare for defenses. Plus, Virginia Tech gets Ali Jennings back. The former Old Dominion star is another big target at 6-2, 205 who only played two games last season before an injury cost him the rest of the year. Brent Pry’s defense has playmakers in the D-line and the secondary. They were No. 2 in the ACC in sacks with 39 and No. 10 in the country. Middle linebacker Sam Brumfield, an instinctive former Middle Tennessee standout, should be a terrific fit to help run the show.

The Hokies do have a tricky six-day stretch of hosting a physical Rutgers team before going to Miami, which will be their toughest road test. They get Clemson at home and don’t face FSU or NC State. I am buying Florida State and Miami, but given all the talent the Noles lost, the ACC feels more wide open this year.

Coaches at multiple stops have gushed about quarterback Tyler Shough’s talent. The challenge has been keeping him healthy for a full season, but if that happens, the Cardinals, with Jeff Brohm running the show, will be dangerous. Shough, who turns 25 in September, has never been able to play more than seven games in a season over the past five years.

The Cardinals have to replace a pair of explosive running backs without Jawhar Jordan and Isaac Guerendo. There is unproven talent there in Maurice Turner, who also has great burst, and 220-pound Miami transfer Don Chaney. They also have to replace WR Jamari Thrash but picked up Alabama transfer JaCorey Brooks for 2024. Defensively, there are seven starters back, led by productive edge rusher Ashton Gillotte, LB T.J. Quinn and CB Quincy Riley from a unit that ranked No. 10 in the country against the run and No. 21 overall. The Cards schedule isn’t easy. They have road trips to South Bend and Clemson and play Miami sandwiched in between two other road games. But if Shough stays healthy, this team has the pieces on both sides of the ball to make a run at 10 wins.

Iowa State was picked to finish sixth in the Big 12 preseason media poll. (Petre Thomas / USA Today)

Iowa State

Four years ago, the Cyclones finished No. 9 in the country, going 9-3. They stumbled the next couple of seasons but found their stride again despite being extremely young in some key places in 2023. Now, they’re a more seasoned bunch with nine starters back on both sides of the ball, led by sophomore QB Rocco Becht, who Matt Campbell raves about from a talent standpoint and in terms of his makeup. Becht led Iowa State to wins last year at Kansas State and against Oklahoma State, throwing a combined six TDs and zero picks. Sophomore Abu Sama III is an explosive running back while rangy Jayden Higgins, a preseason All-Big 12 pick, leads a deep group of wideouts. Tight end Benjamin Brahmer is another promising young talent coming off an impressive true freshman season.

The Cyclones are salty on defense, led by the safety tandem of Beau Freyler (107 tackles, three INTs in 2023) and Jeremiah Cooper (five INTs). There are a lot of other really solid players back from what was the nation’s No. 7 red zone defense. Domonique Orange, a 6-4, 325-pound D-lineman who benches 450 pounds and has a vertical jump of 34 inches, has the potential to be a dominant force up front. Going to Iowa City to face the Hawkeyes is a big challenge. Just like going to West Virginia, Utah and Kansas.

GO DEEPER

College Football Playoff sleepers: 13 unranked teams to watch

UCF

Gus Malzahn knows what he’s doing when it comes to running the football, and his backfield this year has the potential to be lethal.

Arkansas transfer QB KJ Jefferson, a load at 6-3, 250, ran for 21 TDs and almost 1,900 yards in five seasons in the SEC. He’ll be joined by RJ Harvey, who ran for 1,416 yards and 16 TDs last year, and Toledo transfer Peny Boone, another horse at 242 pounds who was the 2023 MAC Offensive Player of the Year. Kobe Hudson (eight TD catches in 2023) and Xavier Townsend are good wideouts and tight end Randy Pittman Jr. looks like a budding star. The offense could be prolific.

The big question is if new DC Ted Roof gets this defense to slow down the opponent’s run game. The Knights ranked No. 122 last year in rushing defense. Cincinnati transfer Deshawn Pace should help, and so will a ground attack that keeps drives going. UCF has road trips to Fort Worth, Gainesville, Ames and Morgantown and hosts Utah and Arizona. Jefferson beat Florida in the Swamp last year by putting up almost 350 yards of offense.

It seems like an uphill climb but Malzahn’s teams have been able to get on some big runs, and this group feels like it could be capable of doing it too.

The Tigers ended 2023 on a roll beating Iowa State in the Liberty Bowl to cap off a 10-win season. Ryan Silverfield’s program retained its two hottest commodities in QB Seth Henigan (79 TD passes in three seasons) and 6-3, 225-pound Roc Taylor, a dominant wide receiver who ate up Mizzou last year for 143 yards in a narrow loss.

Memphis coaches are excited by what they’ve seen from their running backs this fall in camp; the group is starting to look like the old Tigers RB stable from when Mike Norvell was cranking out NFL backs. Mario Anderson, South Carolina’s leading rusher last year, has been sharp in camp as has versatile UMass transfer Greg Desrosiers Jr. Speedster Sutton Smith is another weapon.

Memphis will get a big test in September when the Tigers visit FSU and Norvell. Don’t write them off, but even if they lose there, they still have games at USF and Tulane which should be good tests for a team that has a big chip on its shoulder after having gone to bowl games 10 years in a row. The Tigers feel primed to win a conference title in 2024 and make a bigger statement.

Let’s start with running back Ashton Jeanty, the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year in 2023. He is arguably the best back in college football. Jeanty (159.7 all-purpose yards per game) is an elite player who NFL scouts love, especially his receiving skills.

The Broncos’ defense struggled last year and needs to improve, but there is some good talent there, led by DE Ahmed Hassanein (12.5 sacks and 16.5 TFLs in 2023) and LB Andrew Simpson.

The biggest wild card is how the QB situation evolves. USC transfer Malachi Nelson, a former five-star recruit, is being pushed by Maddux Madsen. Whoever emerges will have a really impressive group of skilled talent to take advantage of. The Broncos also have one of the best punter-kicker tandems in the FBS in James Ferguson-Reynolds (49.7 yards per punt) and Jonah Dalmas (10-of-11 from 40-plus yards on FGs).

The Broncos have to go to Oregon in Week 2 and visit UNLV and Wyoming but get both Washington State and Oregon State at home. The game against the Ducks means they might not have any more margin for error, but 11-2 with a respectable score against Oregon might top the rest of the non-Power 4.

(Top photo: Mike Watters / USA Today)