- Real Madrid edged Alavés 1–0 to end a three-game winless streak across all competitions
- Camavinga scored his first goal of the season in the 34th minute
- Both teams finished with 10 men after red cards to Mbappé and Manuel Sánchez
Key Takeaways:
Spanish champions Real Madrid secured a hard-fought 1–0 away win over Alavés in Matchday 31 of La Liga. The only goal of the match came from Eduardo Camavinga (34’), and both teams finished with 10 players on the pitch after red cards were shown to Kylian Mbappé (38’) and Manuel Sánchez (70’). In the end, Los Blancos managed to put an end to their run of three matches without a win in all competitions.
Carlo Ancelotti clearly decided to preserve Vinícius Júnior and Jude Bellingham for the upcoming Champions League second leg against Arsenal, as both stars were left on the bench. This gave Arda Güler and Aurélien Tchouaméni the chance to start. The Real Madrid coach made two more changes to the starting XI that lost 3–0 in London. Today’s captain Lucas Vázquez and Fran García started as full-backs in place of Luka Modrić and David Alaba. As a result of these adjustments, Federico Valverde was moved back into midfield after featuring as a right-back at the Emirates. The hosts were lined up in a 4-4-1-1 formation, with captain Kike García leading the line and Carles Aleñá playing just behind him.
🗣️ Carlos Martínez: "La entrada de Kylian Mbappé es un ESCÁNDALO.".
🗣️ Carlos Martínez: "El jugador del Alavés intenta quitar el balón a Vinícius."
La doble vara de medir 🤐🤐🤐 pic.twitter.com/JkDpexGpYB
— REAL MADRID FANS 🤍 (@AdriRM33) April 13, 2025
In the 34th minute, Camavinga combined with Valverde and fired in a well-placed shot from the edge of the penalty area to score his first goal of the season. The situation on the pitch changed drastically in the 38th minute when Mbappé committed a rough foul on Antonio Blanco. Initially shown only a yellow card, the French international was then sent off with a straight red after a VAR review by César Soto Grado.
In the 70th minute, numerical balance was restored. Manuel Sánchez made a reckless challenge on Vinícius, who had come off the bench, and following another VAR review, Soto Grado dismissed the Alavés right-back.
With this win, Real Madrid strengthened their grip on second place in the table with 66 points, four behind leaders Barcelona. Alavés remain just above the relegation zone, sitting in 17th place with 30 points.