As a guest at Mendizorroza Stadium,  Real Madrid’s  performance was not too outstanding. Besides David Alaba – the player who suffered a serious injury in the win over Villarreal on December 18, the “White Vultures” still have many good players. In the starting lineup, the player with a brilliant performance in the previous match, Brahim Diaz, started. On the left wing, 24-year-old player Fran Garcia was also given a chance by coach Carlo Ancelotti.

The “Royal Football Team” did not play well in the first half and attacking situations were easily resolved by Alaves’ defenders. Real Madrid’s strikers only had 5 shooting situations and 2 of them hit the target. According to Marca , since the beginning of the 2023 – 2024 season, this is the match in which Real Madrid finished at least in the first half. On the opposite side, without the excellence of goalkeeper Kepa, the home team Alaves would have quickly advanced. took the lead after quick counter-attacks.

Amid the deadlock, coach Carlo Ancelotti’s students faced an additional disadvantage when midfielder Nacho received a red card and left the field. Initially, the Spanish player only received a yellow card, but after consulting VAR, the referee’s decision changed.

“The VAR team informed the referee when they thought the action was serious enough to send Nacho off the field. The penalty card was changed due to a harsh foul from behind aimed at Samu Omorodion,” Perez Burrull – the person in charge of the match between Real Madrid and Alaves said on Radio Marca .

It seemed that the lack of players and playing away from home would cause Real Madrid to lose the game, but the opposite happened. The white shirt team showed their bravery and pressed their opponents even though there were only 10 players left on the field. Real Madrid controlled the ball even better in the first half and clear opportunities came their way. Minute 90+2, everything broke down for the away team when the substitute player – Lucas Vazquez scored a classy goal after an assist from Toni Kroos, helping Real Madrid seal a 1-0 victory.

Lucas Vazquez (2nd from right) scored the goal to bring 3 points for Real Madrid

REUTERS

This result became even more meaningful when Girona was held 1-1 by Real Betis. Despite missing the most prominent player since the beginning of the tournament, Isco, Real Betis still played resiliently against Girona. As usual, Girona still overwhelmed his opponents with fast play and beautiful jumps. They also took an early lead in the first half when Artem Dovbyk successfully converted a penalty kick in the 38th minute.

Real Betis responded with sharp attacks in the second half. The result also came to Coach Pellegrini’s students in the last minute of the match when Germán Pezzella scored a valuable goal, retaining 1 point at home. . Notably, Real Betis is the only team in La Liga that has held all three teams in the top of  La Liga  : Real Madrid, Girona and Atletico Madrid.

Real Betis is still the enemy of the top teams in La Liga

The results of two late matches helped  Real Madrid  rise to the top of La Liga. “White Vulture” has the same 45 points as Girona but has more points difference. In the next match, Real Madrid only has to meet Mallorca while Girona is expected to face many difficulties when hosting Atletico Madrid.