Real Madrid Returns to the Winning Track

French striker Kylian Mbappé scored a brace as Real Madrid defeated visitors Rayo Vallecano 4-1 in the fifth round of the Spanish league on the day before yesterday. Following their 1-0 defeat to Real Betis last week, Real Madrid bounced back by beating Italian side Inter 2-1 at the start of their Champions League campaign, before regaining their winning form domestically against Rayo Vallecano.

Mbappé opened the scoring from a penalty in the 14th minute before completing his brace in stoppage time (90+1). Alvaro Carreras (17) and Englishman Jude Bellingham (35) also found the net, while Sergio Camello reduced the deficit for the visitors in the second half (51). The victory boosted the royal club’s tally to 12 points, placing them second.

Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho made four changes to Real Madrid’s lineup following the loss to Betis, the most notable being the inclusion of Ivorian defender Youssouf Fofana, who joined the club for a record fee of $162 million, in the starting XI for the first time. Mourinho also brought on German defender Antonio Rudiger and Carreras in place of Dean Huijsen and Marc Cucurella, while his compatriot Bernardo Silva replaced Turkish midfielder Arda Guler in the starting lineup.

The home side did not wait long to open the scoring. After Brazilian winger Vinicius Junior played a through ball to an advancing Carreras, the defender was fouled inside the penalty area after a collision with French defender Florian Lejeune, allowing Mbappé to confidently convert the penalty (14).

Real Madrid capitalized on a serious defensive error from their opponents four minutes later to double their lead. Lejeune attempted to clear the ball back to his goalkeeper but misjudged it, allowing it to fall to Mbappé, who laid it off to Carreras, whose left-footed shot found the back of the net (17).

Under constant pressure from Real Madrid, the home side added a third goal by smoothly breaking through Vallecano’s defense. Vinicius received the ball on the left wing and delivered a low cross to an unmarked Bellingham, who calmly placed it into the net (35).

Vallecano took advantage of a major defensive lapse from Real Madrid at the start of the second half to narrow the gap. As Rudiger attempted to pass to Vinicius, the visitors intercepted the ball, which reached Camello. He drove a low shot past Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois to score (51). This was Camello’s sixth goal of the season, matching Mbappé and Barcelona’s Brazilian forward Raphinha.

As the match neared its end, Mbappé added his second personal goal and Real’s fourth by quickly transferring the ball from the left to the right flank, reaching the French captain, who fired a powerful shot with his right foot into the bottom left corner (90+1).

In other matches, Racing Santander and their Moroccan star Yasser Al-Zayiri halted Deportivo Alaves’ momentum, handing them their first loss of the season with a 2-1 victory. After three wins and a draw, Alaves suffered their first defeat, remaining on 10 points in third place. Alaves had taken the lead through Finnish forward Filippa Koski (18), but Al-Zayiri’s brace, the World Cup winner for the U-20 category, in the 38th and 53rd minutes turned the tide, securing the newcomers’ second win in La Liga and lifting their tally to seven points in 10th place.

Espanyol regained their winning form after three consecutive matches without a victory, defeating hosts Osasuna 2-0. Athletic Bilbao fell into a draw against visitors Elche 1-1. Bilbao’s winning streak ended after two victories, one of which was a 3-0 win over Atletico Madrid in the previous round, raising their points total to seven in eighth place. Meanwhile, Elche remains without a win, sitting on two points in 19th place.