Mbappé scores again as Real Madrid ends 2024 in 2nd place in Spanish league

MADRID (AP) — Kylian Mbappé added to his scoring streak with a superb strike 10 minutes into a Spanish league match as Real Madrid beat Sevilla 4-2 on Sunday to finish the year one point behind leader Atletico Madrid.

Mbappé sent a right-footed shot into the upper corner for his fourth goal in as many matches with Madrid in all competitions. It was Mbappé's sixth goal in his last eight games with Madrid.

Federico Valverde, Rodrygo and Brahim Díaz also scored in the comfortable home victory.

Atletico rallied to shock Barcelona 2-1 Saturday with a stoppage-time goal by Alexander Sorloth. Third-place Barcelona is two points behind Madrid, having played an extra game.

Valverde scored in the 20th and Rodrygo in the 34th before Sevilla got on the board with Isaac Romero in the 35th. Díaz extended Madrid's lead in the 53rd and Dodi Lukebakio got the visitors' other goal in the 85th at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

Sevilla, sitting in 12th place, had won two of its last two games in all competitions.

Second-to-last Valencia salvaged a 2-2 home draw with Alaves, thanks to a goal by Dani Gómez eight minutes into second-half stoppage time after the visitors had taken the lead with Joan Jordán in the 88th.

The setback drew more protests from Valencia fans who have been unhappy with the administration of team owner Peter Lim.

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Sevilla's Jesus Navas covers his eyes on his career's last game at the end of the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Sevilla at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Real Madrid's Federico Valverde celebrates with his teammates after scoring his side's second goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Sevilla at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe celebrates with his teammates after scoring the opening goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Sevilla at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Sevilla at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Sevilla at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Sevilla at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Sevilla at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe scores the opening goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Sevilla at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

FLORENCE, Italy (AP) — For centuries, Florence’s 16th-century Vasari Corridor was only accessible to dukes and lords. Now, the raised passageway that connects the city's Uffizi Galleries to the former residence of the powerful Medici family, has reopened to the public after an eight-year restoration project.

The corridor, named after the Renaissance architect and biographer Giorgio Vasari, who designed it, is some 750 meters (820 yards) long. It stretches from the Uffizi Museums to the imposing Palazzo Pitti, passing over Ponte Vecchio above the tiny historic jewelry boutiques that cross the Arno river.

The corridor was built by Florence’s powerful Medici family to allow them to move secretly and safely from one part of the historic Italian city to another.

“It’s a reopening that allows us to connect the two fundamental poles of the (art) collections from one side of the Arno river to the other, the Uffizi Palace with the Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens, and to make it accessible to all visitors,” said Simone Verde, director of the Uffizi Gallery, famous for its collections of ancient sculptures and paintings.

The corridor was closed in 2016 to allow restoration work to bring it up to safety standards.

Starting Dec. 21, visitors are able to enter the Uffizi Museum’s Gallery of Statues and Paintings and walk through the bowels of Ponte Vecchio before exiting through the Tuscan city’s lush Boboli gardens.

Through the corridor, they will be allowed to go around the Torre dé Mannelli and peer from above into the Church of Santa Felicita, enjoying unprecedented views of the city.

The renovation, which cost about 10 million euros, ensures complete accessibility for disabled people through ramps, footbridges and lifts, a new energy-efficient LED lighting system, and is fully video-monitored.

The aim is to make the corridor a valid alternative route for tourists.

“The corridor allows us to turn overtourism from a problem into an opportunity, a way for visitors to see the connection between these two poles of the Medici and then Lorena collections,” Verde said.

Every year, millions of tourists flock to the Tuscan city to admire its stunning Renaissance art and architecture, an ever-increasing flow of people that is becoming unsustainable, as it is in other popular Italian cities.

A view of the 'Corridoio Vasariano' of Vasari Corridor, in Florence, central Italy, Wednesday Aug. 23, 2023. (Luca Moggi/LaPresse via AP, File)