Villarreal 1-2 Real Madrid: Match review | OneFootball

Real Madrid earned their first league win against Villarreal at the Estadio de la Ceramica since February 2017 as they overturned a 1-0 deficit to win 2-1 on matchday 28 of La Liga on Saturday. An exhausted team from the midweek Champions League match claimed a vital result in the Spanish top-flight, a day before Atletico Madrid and Barcelona squared off at the Wanda Metropolitano.

Carlo Ancelotti’s men were put on the back-foot by the Yellow Submarines from the word go on Saturday evening with Thibaut Courtois being called into action just three minutes into the match. The Belgian denied Ayoze Perez’s attempt from outside the box but could do little to stop Villarreal from scoring the opener just four minutes later after a scramble inside the box.

Alex Baena floated an inviting corner into the box and after Los Blancos failed to deal with the delivery, Juan Foyth pounced on the loose ball to tuck it into the net. In spite of Raul Asencio’s best efforts on the line, Villarreal claimed a deserved lead very early on in the game. For the following few minutes, they continued to outrun their visitors, who were lethargic and late to the duels as well as second balls.

Eventually, the Whites found their leveller with their first real chance of the game in the 17th minute as Kylian Mbappe powered an effort in from close range after Brahim Diaz’s chipped effort was blocked by the home side’s goalkeeper, Diego Conde. In spite of Real’s equaliser, the momentum was firmly in Villarreal’s favour until the defending champions scored their second just six minutes later.

Kylian Mbappe, Federico Valverde and Lucas Vazquez combined neatly down the right flank, with the Frenchman stroking home brilliantly after a neat cut-back by his Spanish teammate. It was Mbappe’s 20th La Liga goal of the season and moves him to 32 strikes in all competitions for the Merengues in his maiden campaign since joining from Paris Saint-Germain last summer.

After taking the lead, Real looked a lot more confident on the ball and eventually started to have a better control on proceedings although it still remained an end-to-end affair for the remainder of the first half. Marcelino Garcia’s side had chances through Ayoze Perez and Nicolas Pepe, although they were parried away by Courtois, who had a brilliant evening in between the sticks.

Real Madrid looked down and out in the second half, so they did not push hard for a third goal. The team defended very deep without the ball, while Luka Modric’s introduction five minutes after the hour helped them control possession a lot better. There was a series of passing sequences in the visiting side’s offensive half but neither of them led to any clear-cut chances for them to open a two-goal cushion.

As the full-time whistle went, a number of Real Madrid players dropped to the ground after playing 210 minutes in less than 72 hours, while Ancelotti, Courtois and Mbappe did not hesitate from criticising La Liga’s supposedly irrational planning in the post-match presentation. The manager was especially happy with his players and rightly so, as they earned an important win on the road in the league.

Los Merengues had moved to the top of La Liga’s standings temporarily, before Barcelona got back the first spot after beating Atletico Madrid.