Valencia 1-0 Real Madrid: Valencia has taken three bonus points in the fight against relegation thanks to a 1-0 win over Real Madrid. Due to the defeat, the formation of coach Carlo Ancelotti also lost second place to fellow countryman Atlético Madrid.
Valencia’s crucial victory over 10-man Real Madrid
Justin Kluivert has been running great at Valencia for a number of weeks and against Real Madrid the Amsterdammer was on a roll again. With the opening goal, he – unintentionally – took on the role of declarant. His left shot was a bit out of the way. But could therefore be slid in at the far post by Diego López. The 21-year-old Spaniard made his first goal of the season: 1-0.
Second half
Real Madrid was also unable to make a fist in the second half. Against the team of coach Rubén Baraja who played with heart and soul. In addition, Vinícius Júnior was again the target of racist chants halfway through the second act. The Brazilian winger of Real Madrid even pointed out the culprits in the stands. But the game was resumed despite everything.
As well as midweek against Manchester City in the semi-final of the Champions League. Which lost 4-0, the Royal was unable to enforce much in the orange city. Valencia still scored – this time it was Kluivert himself who found the net – but his goal was disallowed for offside.
In the ten minutes of injury time, partly due to the stoppage following the chants addressed to Vinicius, Real Madrid had a number of life-size opportunities to equalize. Federico Valverde saw his effort by Giorgi Mamardashvili magically tapped from the top corner and a few minutes later the Georgian goalkeeper repeated that feat by whipping a free kick from Toni Kroos out of his goal.
To make matters worse, after Kroos’ free kick, where Valencia pulled out all the stops to buy time, a riot took place in which Vinicius let himself go. The Brazilian, already high in emotion, hit a Valencia player to the grass in consternation and was allowed to move in with a red card.
In the remainder, Valencia remained upright with art and flying. Thanks to the victory, Valencia has opened a five-point gap to Real Valladolid, which is eighteenth, with three games remaining. Ruben Baraja’s team still plays against Mallorca, Espanyol and Real Betis.
