Real Madrid have suffered a blow in the race for the La Liga title, falling to a valiant Villarreal side on Saturday afternoon after a breathless 90 minutes at Estadio de la Cerámica.
Sitting level on points with Barcelona going into today’s game, Carlo Ancelotti’s side knew that they would secure top spot for 24 hours at least if they avoided defeat, with Barca taking on Atletico Madrid at the Metropolitano tomorrow.
However, they failed to do so, on a day where Quique Setien’s men came to play. They almost led in the opening five minutes, as Francis Coquelin’s strike beat Thibaut Courtois, but hit the woodwork. Real Madrid had their own chances in the first half, with Eder Militao firing just wide and Vinicius Jr being denied by Pepe Reina.
Despite the chances, it remained goalless going into the half time interval, but the Yellow Submarine came out flying in the second half. Ferland Mendy’s loose pass was pounced upon by the home team’s midfield, which allowed Gerard Moreno to slip Yeremy Pino through on goal and the forward made no mistake to give Villarreal the lead.
Real Madrid had to scrap to get back into the game, and they got their opportunity on the hour mark. The ball struck Argentinian defender Juan Foyth on the arm, which allowed Karim Benzema to make it 1-1. Unfortunately for Los Blancos, they were level for a matter of minutes, as Villarreal were awarded a penalty of their own when the ball hit David Alaba on the arm following a slip from the Austrian. VAR confirmed the penalty, and Moreno scored to give the hosts the lead for the second time.
Real Madrid dominated the latter stages of the match, but were unable to find a second equaliser. The result takes Villarreal into fifth place for the time being, while Los Blancos remain in second.
Image via EFE
“Real Madrid have suffered a big blow”
With half the season to go, this is probably the dumbest thing Ive read today.
Congratulations.