After Girona’s victory on the Rayo Vallecano pitch (2-1), Real Madrid also had to win this Saturday evening to keep the pressure on the Catalan team. For this, Carlo Ancelotti’s men, undefeated since the end of September, hosted Valencia, also in good form with five matches without defeat (3 wins, 2 draws), for the 13th day of Ligue 1. To do this, the Italian technician trusted Brahim Diaz, compensating for Jude Belligham’s last-minute withdrawal, to accompany Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo in attack.
Nevertheless, the first dangerous, and even decisive, player on the Merengue side was called Dani Carvajal: with a nice control to eliminate JosĂ© Gaya, the Spanish full-back sent a nice shot from the left to the near post to deceive Giorgi Mamardashvili (1-0, 3rd). Despite the opponent’s early opening score and Toni Kroos’ crossbar from a free kick (9th), RubĂ©n Baraja’s flock did not give up and worried Andriy Lunin, without success (11th, 16th, 41st). The two Brazilians from Madrid then made the Georgian goalkeeper shiver (17th, 29th).
Brazil in the spotlight
But before the break, the Auriverde duo finally stood out: on a cross from Rodrygo, Vinicius pushed the ball with his chest into the opposing net for the break goal (2-0, 42nd). Returning from the locker room, Casa Blanca was much more effective, quickly in the second act. One scored a double to shake the small net (3-0, 49th) before the other finally unlocked his counter in this meeting, taking advantage of a risky restart from the last Valencian rampart to widen the gap from the inside of the foot and destroy the hopes of the Che club (4-0, 51st).
The impressive score did not discourage the residents of the Santiago-BernabĂ©u, who continued their offensives to delight their supporters. But Mamardashvili was vigilant not to add even more salt to the bill, particularly on Carvajal’s deceptive cross at the near post (79th). Finally, Rodrygo also scored a “brace” with a powerful strike (5-0, 84th). If Hugo Duro reduced the score before added time (5-1, 88th), the outcome of the match did not change. Real Madrid enjoys a nice success at home and comes within two points of Girona, Valencia remains 9th.
