Real Madrid beats Villarreal and takes provisional leadership of Laliga
Mbappé and Courtois are the big names in Carlo Ancelotti’s team in a comeback at El Madrigal
Real Madrid turn the tables and put pressure on Barça and Atlético de Madrid
Worn out after a 120-minute Champions League clash with Atlético de Madrid last Wednesday, Real Madrid were bombarded at the El Madrigal Stadium, but came from behind to beat Villarreal 2-1 because they have a great goalkeeper and a star player leading the attack. Mbappé scored both goals, and Courtois saved everything at the back. Foyth, early in the game, scored for the home team.
Real Madrid have provisionally taken the lead, now with 60 points, three more than Barcelona (with two games in hand) and four ahead of Atlético de Madrid (with one game in hand). The rivals, in fact, face each other this Sunday at the Metropolitano de Madrid
Villarreal were better for almost the entire half and opened the scoring quickly, in the seventh minute. Despite their strength, they conceded the equalizer shortly after, in a persistent play by Mbappé, who scored the second goal shortly after. In the 22nd minute, the final score was already decided. Real’s second goal was scored again by the French star, who received the ball from Vázquez, stepped on the ball to control it and fired a beautiful shot. Conde had no chance.
In the second half, Villarreal tried to press even harder, but they ran into a wall called Thibaut Courtois. The 2-meter tall giant made a lot of saves. He made nine saves in the entire game, at least five of them difficult. The home team had much more shots than Real Madrid (23 to 9) and had corners (11 to 4). The defensive work of Camavinga and Tchouaméni deserves to be highlighted.
The guys
Mbappé has now scored 20 goals in LaLiga and is one behind Lewandowski, the competition’s top scorer. This season, Real Madrid’s number 9 has scored 31 goals. In defense, Courtois stood out in both halves with saves that required him to be very flexible.
