Real Madrid has cranked up the pressure on Barcelona by narrowing the gap at the top of LaLiga to six points, following a 2-1 victory over Alaves at the Bernabeu, which puts the visitors in serious jeopardy of relegation.
In a season marked by disappointing form and the potential for consecutive trophy-less campaigns, the home side experienced an early scare when Alvaro Carreras hesitated, allowing Angel Perez to burst through only for his ill-fated pass to Lucas Boye to squander the opportunity.
Following that, Madrid predictably took control of first-half proceedings but struggled to create meaningful chances, and they were fortunate to take the lead in the 30th minute.
Kylian Mbappe turned sharply and unleashed a speculative strike from outside the box, a risk that paid off as it deflected off Jonny Otto, misleading Antonio Sivera and rolling into the near post.
Eder Militao almost added to the tally, his effort from Jude Bellingham’s cross hitting the crossbar, although Alaves almost matched that when Toni Martinez flicked a shot onto the woodwork just before half-time.
Despite a lacklustre first half, Real Madrid showed marked improvement after the break, doubling their advantage not long after the restart.
Federico Valverde powered his team forward, passing to Vinicius Junior, who caught Sivera off guard with a stunning finish from distance that found the bottom corner.
The home side kept their momentum going, with Brahim Diaz unlucky not to make it 3-0 when his curling strike was headed off the line by Nahuel Tenaglia.
Alaves finally sprung into action, with Martinez having two more chances to create a tense finish—first forcing Andriy Lunin into a save before hitting the bar with a diving header.
Martinez eventually found the net, cleverly backheeling Ander Guevara’s shot past Lunin, but it came deep into stoppage time and merely denied Real Madrid their first clean sheet in nine LaLiga matches.
Returning to winning ways for the first time this April, Madrid may find their resurgence too late, especially with Barcelona showing no signs of slowing down in their last seven fixtures—though a second league Clasico of the season still lies ahead.
With only one win from their last ten league matches and the bottom three teams managing to secure two wins out of their last three, things are looking precarious for Los Albiazules. However, Quique Sanchez Flores likely did not view this match as a dependable source of points.
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