Real Madrid overcame their tiredness and once again showed their fighting spirit. They came from behind against Villarreal at the Estadio de la Cerámica and provisionally took top spot in the league after a perfect week which also included Champions League quarter-final qualification. Kylian Mbappé was decisive, scoring a brace in the first half to cancel out Foyth's early goal.
Villarreal set a very high pace and soon caught Madrid, who had not had 72 hours of rest since their last game, off guard. Thibaut Courtois made a great save in the 7th minute to turn Ayoze's shot behind for a corner. Baena's corner was not cleared by our defense and the ball, after bouncing off Tchouameni's back, dropped to Foyth, who punished Madrid with a left-footed shot to make it 1-0.
Mbappé responds
The response from Ancelotti's team was forceful. They turned the scoreboard around thanks to a brace from Mbappé in seven minutes. In the 16th minute, he combined in the area with Brahim, whose attempted lob was parried by Diego Conde; the Frenchman got in front of his marker, collected the rebound and made it 1-1 with his right foot. In the 23rd minute, Lucas Vázquez got to the byline and cut the ball back for Mbappé, who took up position near the edge of the box and thundered a right-footed shot into the left-hand corner of the net to score his 31st goal this season. Before the break, Courtois prevented the equalizer with a great save from a powerful shot by Pépé.
Villarreal came out better after the break and started to create chances. First they came close to equalizing with a Barry header that went over the bar, and shortly after that a Foyth volley went over the crossbar. In the 58th minute, Courtois had to use his fists to keep out a strong attempt from Baena.
Madrid hold on to seal another win
Real Madrid improved and began to retain possession. Fede Valverde tried his luck with a first time shot from a Luka Modrić corner that Diego Conde smothered (79'). The home side continued to push for the equalizer and in the 84th minute they came close through Ayoze who, after controlling the ball with his back to goal, swivelled but his shot went over the bar. Our team held on to the result and left Villarreal with the win.