Real Madrid striker Kylian Mbappe is “down” but has the determination to come through a difficult period, says manager Carlo Ancelotti.

The 25-year-old France forward, who joined Real on a free transfer from Paris St-Germain in July, has struggled for form since arriving at the Bernabeu.

Mbappe has scored eight goals in 15 appearances for the La Liga club, but has only netted once in his past five games.

Real, who won the Champions League and La Liga last season, were beaten 4-0 by rivals Barcelona last month and trail the Catalans by nine points in the league.

“Mbappe is down like everyone else, but motivated to get through this moment,” Real boss Ancelotti told a news conference.

“The problem he’s having is everyone’s problem. You could point at Vinicius [Junior], Rodrygo or [Jude] Bellingham. It is a difficult moment for everyone.”

Jon Jones is set to wear his first pair of custom fight shorts when he returns to the octagon.

Jones defends the UFC heavyweight title for the first time in the main event of UFC 309 against former champ Stipe Miocic. The event is set for Nov. 16 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Ahead of Jones’ first octagon appearance in nearly two years, “Bones” is preparing to wear new custom fight shorts, courtesy of Venum, the UFC’s official fight kit and fight week apparel partner. Check out photos of the shorts below.

Jones’ shorts feature a pair of lions, as well as the lettering of Jones’ Philippians 4:13 tattoo.

The two-division title winner adds his name to the growing list of fighters to receive special custom fight shorts, which includes Alex Pereira, Dustin Poirier, and Max Holloway.

The 37-year-old captured the heavyweight championship with a quick guillotine submission win against Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 in March 2023. Now he defends his belt against Miocic, who is returning to action for the first time since 2021.

NEW Manchester United gaffer Ruben Amorim will be without assistant Darren Fletcher for the first two Prem games of his reign.

Fletcher has been handed an extended three-match ban and a hefty fine by the FA for kicking off with officials during Man Utd’s 2-1 win over Brentford last month.

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The incident occurred after Ethan Pinnock netted a controversial opener on the brink of half-time.

United staff complained as Matthijs de Ligt was forced off the pitch by referee Samuel Barrott after blood was leaking from a gash in his head.

It meant United were down a man when Pinnock freely headed in from a corner in the final minute of first half stoppage time.

Fletcher’s ban starts on Sunday after allegedly acting in an improper or confrontational manner as he criticised the officials.

This means he will miss Amorim’s first two Premier League games, against Ipswich Town on November 24 and Everton on December 1.

An FA statement read: “An independent Regulatory Commission has imposed a three-match extended touchline ban and £7,500 fine on Darren Fletcher. 

“The FA alleged that the coach acted in an improper and/or confrontational manner and/or that he used abusive and/or insulting words towards the fourth official and the referee and/or assistant referees around the tunnel area at half time.

“Fletcher admitted to this misconduct but denied that he was abusive.

“However, the Regulatory Commission found this to be proven and imposed his sanctions.
 
“The Regulatory Commission’s written reasons for its decisions will be published in due course.”

Both Erik ten Hag and Ruud van Nistelrooy were booked for their reactions on the touchline.

But emotions also got the better of Fletcher, who is said to have exploded at the officials inside the Old Trafford tunnel, which was included in Barrott’s referee report.

Despite falling behind just before the break, United responded with goals from Alejandro Garnacho and Rasmus Hojlund sealing just the club’s third Prem win of the season.

United are appealing the severity of Fletcher’s sanction.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has opened up on details surrounding Lewis Hamilton’s shock move to Ferrari – and how he got an early tip-off from Carlos Sainz Sr.

Hamilton told Wolff during a visit to his house at the end of January that he would be activating an exit clause in his Mercedes contract and joining Ferrari for the 2025 season.

But while Hamilton’s announcement was the first official confirmation that Wolff had of his driver’s departure, he has now spoken at length about how he had been alerted to the prospect for a little while.

Speaking to the High Performance podcast, Wolff said that an initial call from Sainz Sr., father of the Ferrari driver Carlos that Hamilton is replacing, had been where he first got word that something was in the offing.

“So I heard the bells ringing two weeks before,” said Wolff. “Yeah, the old man Sainz called me and said, this is what’s happening.

“And then there were a few drivers’ dads rang me up that didn’t before. So I thought, Okay…there’s something going on there.

“And then I sent a text to [Ferrari boss] Fred Vasseur saying: ‘You’re taking our driver?’ Didn’t get any response. Very unusual for Fred. He’s a good friend. So yeah, I saw it coming.”

With his suspicion about the intention of Hamilton’s visit to his house, Wolff also revealed that he threw a curveball into their chat by first telling the seven-time champion about Mercedes having signed former Ferrari chief designer Simone Resta.

Toto Wolff, Team Principal and CEO, Mercedes-AMG, with Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG

Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images

“When Lewis arrived in the house, like he did so many years before, we had a bit of a small talk, like we always do about the Christmas holidays and all of that,” explained Wolff.

“Then I said, “Well, we’re recruiting from Ferrari now. We got this guy.” And Lewis was, “Oh, there’s something I need to tell you.” And yeah, when he said that, that initial moment was a little bit of… so this is really happening?”

When news of Hamilton’s Ferrari decision was made public, it became one of the biggest shock news events of recent F1 history.

But Wolff said that he was able to deal with the situation in quite a calm manner.

“Well, I had much worse in my life, happening, like real drama and trauma,” he said. “This is not even moving the needle.”

He added: “It’s just a new situation. It has risks and opportunities, risks in the sense of how do I inform the sponsors as quickly as possible? Because it was leaking… And on the other side, what are we doing about next year?”

Wolff also made it clear that there was no temptation from his side to try to persuade Hamilton to change his mind.

“I think if someone decides to go, then you need to let them go,” he said. “I had a chat with Pep Guardiola a long time ago, and he is a friend. I said, ‘What do you do if this and that player leaves?’ And he said, ‘What do you mean I do?’ I said, ‘Well, do you try to convince them to stay?’

“He said: ‘No, if somebody thinks he can play elsewhere better or earns more – you have just got to let them go.’ And it is something that I embrace in the same way here. Somebody wants to go – then let’s make it as good as possible for each of the parties.”

Tottenham have been charged by the Football Association over alleged homophobic chanting by their fans during a 3-0 win at Manchester United earlier this season.

The chanting is said to have taken place in the 49th and 79th minutes of the Premier League fixture at Old Trafford on 29 September.

Immediately after the game, Spurs condemned “abhorrent homophobic chanting” as “simply unacceptable” and vowed to take the “strongest possible action”.

The club has been charged with two breaches of FA Rule E21, which governs the behaviour of supporters at matches, “for misconduct in relation to crowd control”.

An FA statement said Tottenham “failed to ensure” that fans “conduct themselves in an orderly fashion” and “don’t use words or otherwise behave in an improper, offensive, abusive, indecent or insulting way with either an express or implied reference to sexual orientation”.

Spurs have until next Wednesday to respond to the FA in relation to the charge.

Chael Sonnen thinks Ilia Topuria has the potential to become a bigger star than Conor McGregor.

After knocking out Alexander Volkanovski to claim the featherweight title, Topuria (16-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) became the first fighter to knock out Max Holloway (26-8 MMA, 22-8 UFC) in the UFC 308 main event.

Undefeated Topuria has already amassed millions of followers on social media, and had soccer superstar Sergio Ramos travel to Abu Dhabi to support him for his title fight against Holloway. His rise to stardom has the UFC eyeing a debut event in Spain in 2025.

If Topuria continues his dominance in the octagon, Sonnen says the sky is the limit for “El Matador.”

“He’s got the Prime Minister of Spain watching his fights and having people filming,” Sonnen said on his YouTube channel. “He’s got the biggest actresses, the most successful athletes – which are football (players) in Spain – coming and watching him live.

“The guy never misses. It turns out he’s as good as he said. I mean, it’s going to be a short period – he’s not here now, but it’s a short period of time. At this trajectory, believe this or not, he’s going to pass Conor McGregor.”

Topuria and McGregor have already taken numerous shots at each other. Topuria once longed for a fight with McGregor, but has recently changed his tune, saying that “The Notorious” wouldn’t be worthy to fight him.

As it stands, it will be difficult for any fighter to outdo McGregor’s popularity, as the former UFC dual-champion is responsible for eight out of the UFC’s 10 highest-selling pay-per-views.