Alaves vs Real Madrid Review
Xabi Alonso’s Real Madrid managed to secure a hard-fought 2-1 victory away at Deportivo Alavés. This marks only their third win in nine competitive games, while the home team has now suffered defeat in four of their last five La Liga matches. Kylian Mbappé’s attempts in the first eight minutes failed to find the net. Nevertheless, the French forward succeeded on his third chance midway through the first half, when Jude Bellingham played a through ball to him on the left side, allowing Mbappé to cut inside and curl an unstoppable shot past Antonio Sivera.
Just minutes later, Los Blancos were denied a quick second goal when Bellingham scored from a corner after controlling the ball with his hand. After that close call, the home team dominated possession in the final 15 minutes of the first half but failed to challenge the visiting defense until the very last moment before halftime. Real Madrid couldn’t clear a free-kick into their box, which fell to Pablo Ibáñez six yards out, but his close-range shot was blocked by Thibaut Courtois’ face.
The signs were positive for Real Madrid at the start of the second half, as they had won their previous 10 league games this season when scoring first. However, they pushed for a second goal, with Federico Valverde firing a long-range shot just wide, followed shortly by Sivera making an excellent double save to deny Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior. Failing to put Los Albiazules away came back to haunt the visitors midway through the half when Alavés unexpectedly equalized. A long ball over the top found Carlos Vicente, who placed the ball beyond Courtois’ reach. The goal was initially disallowed for offside, but VAR confirmed Vicente had perfectly timed his run.
Rodrygo demonstrated his skill shortly after to regain the lead for Madrid, as his fellow Brazilian Vini Jr used his speed to get past his defender on the left wing and delivered a low cross for Rodrygo to tap in. Vini Jr later had a penalty claim denied, and Bellingham and Brahim Díaz came close to scoring a third goal. With no late opportunities for Eduardo Coudet’s team, Real managed to secure an important victory, extending their unbeaten streak in away games to six, while the home team suffered their eighth consecutive head-to-head loss.
