In added time on the 12th matchday, Madrid won 2-1 with a goal in added time from Bellingham, who had previously missed a penalty. Vinicius sent off, goals from Duro and Modric and a sensational post from Luis Rioja in the 100th minute
Valencia-Real Madrid is never a normal match. In an evening full of things, protests, tributes, whistles, controversies and flashes of excellent football, in Mestalla it ended 1-2 due to goals from Hudo Duro, Modric and Bellingham, with a penalty missed by the Englishman himself, a goal disallowed by Mbappé, Vinicius’ expulsion in the 79th minute and a sensational post by Luis Rioja in the 100th minute. With the comeback, Madrid goes to the top, +2 over Atletico who have a game in hand and +5 over Barça with the same matches. Valencia remains desperately last.
tributes and protests
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The first La Liga match of 2025 is the recovery of the matchday 12 postponed due to the weather catastrophe that hit Valencia and the Valencian Community. The Mestalla stadium paid tribute to the great heart of Real Madrid who showed enormous solidarity with the region hit by the storm by paying one million euros, and protested against Peter Lim, the long-hated owner.
new technician
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Ancelotti has chosen his best 11, with Vinicius returning after disqualification and Ceballos alongside Valverde. Valencia introduced their new manager, Carlos Corberan, who before Christmas was called upon to replace Ruben Baraja with the team in the relegation zone.
the advantage
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Valencia started with great heart, pressing high and taking advantage of the well-known defensive idiosyncrasy of Bellingham and Vinicius. Foulquier dominated the right wing, and from there in the 27th minute the goal arrived: the Frenchman unloaded on Javi Guerra who forced Courtois into the third miracle of the evening but the ball rejected by the Belgian goalkeeper ended up at the feet of Hugo Duro who scored with an empty net, his fifth goal in La Liga and the fourth in the last 5 matches against Madrid.
reaction, penalty and goal disallowed
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Ancelotti’s team reacted with a great shot just high from the usual Valverde and with a shot from Vinicius launched by Ceballos and stopped very well by the Macedonian goalkeeper Dimitrievski. At the start of the second half, a loose ball from Barrenechea ends up in Mbappé who comes into contact with Tarrega in the area: the referee blows the penalty which Bellingham sends onto the post. And a moment later the VAR annulled a goal by Mbappé for truly millimetric offside who, after receiving a great cut from Vinicius, discarded the goalkeeper and deposited the ball in the net. Short-lived joy.
expulsion and equal
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Ancelotti brought in Brahim and Camavinga for Rodrygo (switched off) and Mendy (attacked), but lost the usually agitated Vinicius, who was sent off in the 79th minute for a silly yet obvious hit on Dimitrievski. The Macedonian made a scene, but at the VAR the referee judged the Brazilian’s shot to be a red, as he was enraged and forcibly taken away by Rudiger. Modric entered and in an instant equalized with an exquisite left-footed touch from the outside following a ball lost and recovered by Brahim and assisted by Bellingham.
suicide and bad luck
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In the fifth of 9 minutes of injury time, Valencia committed suicide: Foulquier gave a terrible ball to Guillamon who fed it to Bellingham who scored the winning goal for the fifth game in a row. It came with a final stroke of luck, when Luis Rioja’s magnificent left-footed shot from the top right of the area ended its run against the inside of Courtois’ post. Real celebrating, Valencia unlucky.
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