Por Federico Leiva, CNN en Español

El Real Madrid no gana para disgustos. Como si el cierre de 2025 no hubiera sido suficientemente decepcionante en materia de resultados y rendimientos, el comienzo de 2026 no pinta para ser mucho mejor. El Merengue informó este miércoles que la figura del equipo, el francés Kylian Mbappé, comienza el nuevo año en la enfermería.

El delantero de la selección francesa padece un esguince en su rodilla izquierda, según el parte médico difundido por el club español, donde no se agrega ninguna fecha estimada de vuelta a las canchas.

Por lo pronto, el ariete se perderá el duelo frente al Betis del domingo, válido por la jornada 18 de LaLiga de España, un juego complicado ante un equipo que marcha sexto en la tabla de posiciones y donde los madridistas jugarán sabiendo ya el resultado del FC Barcelona, el líder del torneo, que el sábado juega el clásico catalán ante el Espanyol.

El dolor de cabeza podría ser peor para el Madrid si Mbappé no muestra mejoría rápidamente, ya que el próximo jueves los de la capital deben jugar por la Supercopa de España en Arabia Saudita ante ni más ni menos que su rival de ciudad, el Atlético de Madrid de Simeone.

Un mal resultado en la competición podría ser un cachetazo definitivo para Xabi Alonso, muy cuestionado por el último mes de los blancos, donde quedaron a cuatro unidades del Barcelona en LaLiga, y con la clasificación directa a octavos de final de la Champions League pendiendo de un hilo tras la caída en casa ante el Manchester City.

La baja del francés no podría caer en peor momento. Después de todo, es el goleador indiscutido del equipo, con 18 goles en el torneo español, con siete tantos de ventaja sobre el segundo. Es más, es el único jugador del Real Madrid entre los 10 jugadores más goleadores de LaLiga. El siguiente es Vinícius Jr., con cinco dianas.

En Europa se repite la ecuación. Mbappé lleva nueve goles en seis partidos de la Champions League, tres más que Erling Haaland y Victor Osimhen. La dependencia es tanta que entre todos sus compañeros apenas lograron marcar cuatro veces, menos de la mitad de las que anotó el campeón del mundo en 2018.

Las lesiones son un auténtico karma para el Real Madrid de Xabi Alonso: Thibaut Courtois, Dean Huijsen, Eder Militao, Franco Mastantuono, Dani Carvajal, Antonio Rudiger, David Alaba, Eduardo Camavinga, Trent Alexander-Arnold y Ferland Mendy ya han tenido que pasar semanas en la enfermería durante la mitad de temporada.

Además de que el Madrid pierde a su goleador absoluto y mejor jugador, tampoco tiene demasiados nombres para el recambio. De hecho, el Merengue hizo oficial hace pocos días la cesión del brasileño Endrick, quien había sido utilizado por Xabi Alonso en varios partidos. Eso, sumado a que Florentino Pérez no es asiduo a buscar refuerzos en los mercados de pases de enero (y parece que este no será la excepción) le puede costar caro a un equipo con problemas.

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By Kevin Liptak, Zachary Cohen, CNN

(CNN) — The CIA has assessed Ukraine was not targeting a residence used by Russian President Vladimir Putin in a recent drone attack in the north of his country, according to US officials, undercutting an assertion the Russian leader had made to President Donald Trump in a Monday phone call.

The CIA’s director John Ratcliffe briefed Trump on the assessment Wednesday, the officials said.

Russia had publicly raised allegations Ukraine attempted to hit Putin’s home Monday, and Trump told reporters Putin had told him of it over the phone. At the time, the president said he was troubled by the reported action, seeming to believe the Russian leader even as Ukraine strenuously denied it was behind any such attack.

“I don’t like it. It’s not good,” Trump said, describing himself as “very angry” upon hearing the claim.

He conceded it was “possible” the allegation was false and such an attack had not occurred, then added, “But President Putin told me this morning it did.”

Sources said Ratcliffe later briefed Trump that the CIA did not believe it was true. And on Wednesday, Trump appeared to have adopted a more skeptical posture toward posting, posting a link to a New York Post editorial on Truth Social with the headline, “Putin ‘attack’ bluster shows Russia is the one standing in the way of peace.” The Post’s editorial board noted it was “rich that Putin, who has waged a brutal war for nearly four years, believes that any violence in his vicinity merits special outrage” and asserted that “Any attack on Putin is more than justified.”

“But here’s the rub: The drone strike likely never happened. (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelensky vigorously denied it. (Kremlin spokesman Dmitry) Peskov said the Russians could provide no evidence, and urged the press to ‘take the Kremlin’s word for it. No, we won’t,” the board wrote.

CNN has reached out to the CIA and the White House for comment.

Putin’s claim of an attack — and the subsequent US assessment that it wasn’t true, first reported by the Wall Street Journal — came amid intensive talks led by Trump and his envoys to end the war in Ukraine.

Putin levied the allegation a day after Trump met Zelensky at Mar-a-Lago, and emerged optimistic on progress to broker a peace in the conflict.

Some European officials said the claim was an attempt by Putin to derail the peace efforts while not catching Trump’s blame.

Others have also cast doubt on the Russian claim. The European Union’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Wednesday that it was a “deliberate distraction.”

The defense ministry in Moscow said Wednesday that 91 drones had been launched from northern Ukraine against Putin’s residence near Valdai in the Novgorod region of northwestern Russia.

More than half had been intercepted several hundred kilometers away, the ministry said, without specifying how it knew they were destined for Valdai. The rest had been intercepted over Novgorod between 3 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. local time on Monday, according to the ministry.

The ministry published a map purporting to show the path of the drones and where they had been brought down.

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By Michael Williams, CNN

(CNN) — The Trump administration is terminating a nonprofit’s management of three public Washington, DC, golf courses, in what may be the latest effort to put President Donald Trump’s stamp on local institutions.

The Department of the Interior said National Links Trust’s lease was terminated because the group defaulted on several aspects of its 50-year lease with the National Park Service to manage the courses. The nonprofit denied the allegations, saying on Wednesday that it fundamentally disagreed with the administration’s stance and is “devastated” by the termination.

In a statement announcing the termination, the organization said that while the courses will remain open, its long-term renovation projects will have to stop. It said it had invested $8.5 million in capital improvement projects at the courses since taking over the lease five years ago.

“We will continue to seek a dialogue with the administration to offer our experience, institutional knowledge, and strong community relationships to explore shared goals for these historic public assets,” National Links Trust said. “While this termination is a major setback, we remain stubbornly hopeful that a path forward can be found that preserves affordable and accessible public golf in the nation’s capital for generations to come.”

The nonprofit manages courses in DC’s Rock Creek Park; in the eastern part of the city just north of the under-demolition RFK Stadium; and on Hains Point, an island nestled on the Potomac River between DC and Virginia.

Trump suggested in an interview with the Wall Street Journal earlier this month that he was contemplating redeveloping the courses, saying, “If we do them, we’ll do it really beautifully.” He also said if he took control, DC residents would pay a lower rate than other golfers, according to the Journal.

The lease termination was first reported by The Washington Post, which said that the Department of the Interior issued its termination notice on Tuesday.

A White House spokesperson referred a request for comment to the Department of the Interior. That department said in a statement that the administration “prides itself on getting the job done for the American people and partnering with others who share that same goal.”

The Interior Department claimed that National Links Trust has failed to pay millions of dollars in rent owed under the contract, paying $0 in rent some years. It also accused the group of failing to produce a plan to remedy that default.

A copy of the lease agreement obtained by CNN shows that National Links Trust was allowed to offset the cost of its rent with approved capital improvement projects. The $8.5 million in capital improvements the group says it has invested is more than what the Interior Department says it owes in rent.

“We are fundamentally in disagreement with the administration’s characterization of NLT as being in default under the lease,” National Links Trust said in its statement. “We have always had a productive and cooperative working relationship with the National Park Service and have worked hand in hand on all aspects of our golf course operations and development projects.”

A person familiar with the operations at National Links Trust said the group is reserving its rights to explore legal options.

Since taking office a year ago, Trump has s