Elche vs Real Madrid Review
Real Madrid came from behind twice to secure a 2-2 draw against Elche at the Estadio Manuel Martínez Valero. Elche showed great confidence in their play, exemplified by Álvaro Núñez dribbling the ball inside his own penalty area. Despite this, Real Madrid’s danger was evident when Kylian Mbappé narrowly missed a shot following a pass from Raúl Asencio. The home team remained persistent, with André Silva heading Germán Valera’s cross just wide of the goal, and Grady Diangana’s shot being blocked. Their best opportunity came when Rafa Mir received a pass from Silva after Héctor Fort dispossessed Álvaro Fernández, but the striker was denied by Thibaut Courtois.
Asencio missed the target from Trent Alexander-Arnold’s corner at the opposite end, and Arda Güler combined with Fran García before nearly scoring with a daring shot. Despite this, Elche continued to press, and Dean Huijsen had to recover to prevent Silva’s pass from reaching Mir after the defender initially failed to clear the ball. Mbappé was then stopped by Iñaki Peña after a heavy touch and had a volley saved by the Elche goalkeeper. With both teams refusing to give way, Silva was denied by Courtois, and David Affengruber blocked Rodrygo’s effort as an exciting first half ended without any goals.
Shortly after the second half began, Peña was again called into action to deflect Rodrygo’s powerful shot wide, but it was Courtois who was eventually beaten in the 53rd minute. A brilliant build-up ended with Valera backheeling the ball to Aleix Febas, who poked it past the Real Madrid goalkeeper and into the net off the post. Xabi Alonso quickly reacted with three substitutions and brought on Gonzalo García, who headed over the bar soon after entering the game. The equalizer finally arrived in the 78th minute when Jude Bellingham won the initial header from Alexander-Arnold’s corner, and Huijsen nudged the ball over the line.
Elche pushed forward once more and reclaimed the lead just six minutes later when Álvaro Rodríguez advanced smoothly and scored past Courtois from outside the penalty area. Incredibly, Bellingham had one shot saved but managed to score from Mbappé’s pass, securing at least a point for his team, which brings Los Blancos back to the top of La Liga.
However, things could have been even better as Gonzalo was unable to get enough contact on Eduardo Camavinga’s pass to direct it towards goal. This comeback also means Los Franjiverdes remain without a win in their last six matches, and they ended the game with 10 players after Víctor Chust received his second yellow card for pulling Mbappé’s shirt.
