Real Madrid received a surprising home bankruptcy against FC Valencia on the 30th matchday in La Liga and gave leaders Barcelona a steep template, which the Catalans could not use.
“Real throws the championship away”commented Spain’s sports newspaper “Marca” after the 1-2 home defeat against Valencia as usual. Of course, eight game days before the end is not decided in La Liga.
Especially since the arch-rival and league leader FC Barcelona missed the chance to increase the lead at the top to six points: The Catalans only got a 1-1 draw on Saturday evening against Betis.
The bigger question marks existed in Bernabeu: Hugo Duro (90.+5) Real shocked his winning goal in added time. Mouctar Diakhaby (15th) had given the relegation candidate from Valencia in Bernabeu, Vinicius Junior (50th) had in the meantime compensated.
Vinicius Jr. meets, but awards penalty
The Spanish media put on alert that only Kylian Mbappé was able to convince in Madrid’s starring ensemble. Vinicius Jr. had marked the equalization, but in the initial phase they left the great chance to take the lead with a weakly shot penalty.
Mbappé, the most dangerous man at Real, failed several times due to Valencia’s outstanding keeper Giorgi Mamardaschwili.
The “royal” also missed the dress rehearsal for the quarter-final first leg in the Champions League on Tuesday at Arsenal.