Madrid hopes Mbappé can play against Barcelona in Spanish Super Cup final
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid is hoping Kylian Mbappé recovers from a knee issue in time to face a high-flying Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup on Sunday.
Mbappé missed Madrid's hard-fought 2-1 win over Atletico Madrid in Thursday's semifinal, but coach Xabi Alonso said the France striker would travel from Spain to Saudi Arabia, where the mini-Super Cup tournament is being held.
Alonso wouldn't confirm if Mbappé will play, but said the team's top scorer is “much better, he's been training and he's feeling good."
Mbappé, who leads La Liga in goals this season, has been sidelined for two games with a left knee sprain.
Also this weekend, the teams not involved in the Spanish Super Cup will play a regular round of La Liga matches as the domestic competition reaches its midway point.
Key matches
Madrid beat Barcelona 2-1 in La Liga in October thanks to goals by Mbappé and Jude Bellingham. That victory, however, marked the high point of its first season under Alonso. Since then the fortunes of the rivals have inverted. Barcelona has overtaken Madrid for the league lead and produced much more impressive performances while speculation has grown about Alonso's job security.
Barcelona thumped Athletic Bilbao 5-0 in Wednesday's semifinal in Jeddah even with star forward Lamine Yamal resting on the bench until the damage was done and only playing the final minutes.
In last year's Spanish Super Cup final, Barcelona routed Madrid 5-2 to lift the first of three titles it collected ahead of winning the Copa del Rey and La Liga.
In La Liga this weekend, third-placed Villarreal can make up ground on the frontrunners when it hosts Alaves on Saturday. Villarreal is seven points behind second-placed Madrid and 11 adrift of Barcelona but with two games in hand.
Espanyol, in fifth, can pull closer to fourth-placed Atletico and challenge for a Champions League spot if it wins at Levante on Sunday.
Players to watch
If Mbappé plays, he will provide Madrid with some much-needed punch after the team struggled against Atletico. Even goal-scorer Federico Valverde said that Atletico had played better.
Yamal is expected to return to the starting lineup for Barcelona in his spot on the right flank.
But attacking midfielder Fermín López, who was reportedly close to a move to Chelsea in the summer, could prove key for Hansi Flick's side. Fermín's energy and appetite for goals make him unique in a Barcelona side full of finesse.
Out of action
While Barcelona will only be missing midfielder Gavi Paéz, Madrid has been badly hit by injuries.
Éder Militão, Dani Carvajal and Trent Alexander-Arnold were already out injured, and media reports say that Antonio Rudiger and fellow center back Raúl Asencio are doubtful for the final after playing against Atletico.
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86 nations, two int'l organisations sign AI Impact Summit declaration: IT Min Vaishnaw
New Delhi (PTI): As many as 86 countries and two international organisations have signed the AI Impact Summit declaration, IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday said, adding that the US, UK, Canada, China, Denmark, and Germany are among the signatories.
The strong global backing for the declaration comes at the conclusion of the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi.
Vaishnaw told reporters that nations across the world have formalised and upheld principles of 'welfare of all, and happiness of all'.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi's human-centric AI vision been accepted by the world. Democratising Artificial Intelligence resources so AI facilities, services and technology can reach everyone in society has been accepted by all," the minister said.
Balancing economic growth with social good has been prioritised, he added.
"Not just economic growth, even social harmony has to be kept in mind. Safety and trust are at the centre, they have been brought among the main points," Vaishnaw said, adding that a secure, trustworthy and robust AI framework has been focused on.
Other major areas of thrust include innovations and development of human capital, he noted.
"For all these areas, all countries have agreed to work together. Almost all countries that participated, including the US, the UK, Canada, China, Denmark, Egypt, Indonesia, and Germany... everyone has participated," the minister said.
The mega AI Impact Summit secured investment commitments of over USD 250 billion in infrastructure alone, with Vaishnaw on Friday terming it a "grand success".
Vaishnaw had said participation at the summit crossed five lakh visitors, reflecting strong domestic and global engagement with India's AI push.
The India AI Impact Summit brought together global policymakers, industry leaders and technology experts, positioning India as a key player in shaping international AI governance and infrastructure development.
"More than five lakh visitors participated in the exhibition, learnt a lot, and interacted with many experts from around the world. We had practically every major AI player in the world participating in large numbers. We had so many startups getting the opportunity to showcase their work. Overall, the quality of the discussion was phenomenal," he had said.
Be it the ministerial dialogue, the leaders' plenary, the main inauguration function, or the Summit overall, the quality of participation and dialogue was phenomenal, Vaishnaw had pointed out.
The investment pledges have crossed USD 250 billion for infra-related capital and around USD 20 billion on VC/deep tech investments.
Vaishnaw had said that the Summit reflected the world's confidence in India's role in the new AI age.
Delhi played host to a lineup of global tech heavyweights this week - Google's Sundar Pichai, OpenAI's Sam Altman, Microsoft's Brad Smith and Anthropic's Dario Amodei - as discussions spanned most intensely debated global topics in the tech universe, from AI's opportunities and risks, all the way to AGI, governance and the future of jobs.
