Alvarez Leads Atletico to Victory

Argentine striker Julian Alvarez led Atletico Madrid to their sixth consecutive victory by scoring the winning goal in a 1-0 away win against Deportivo La Coruna, while Moroccan international Yassine Bounou continued his scoring habit by restoring Racing Santander to the path of victories with a 2-1 home win over Espanyol on Saturday in the tenth round of the Spanish league.

In the first match at Madrid’s Metropolitano Stadium, Alvarez scored the winning goal and secured all three points in the 48th minute, continuing his return to scoring form after a barren spell following his drop in performance and exclusion by the club’s management due to his desire to move to Barcelona at the start of the season. Alvarez had opened his scoring account for the season four days earlier by equalizing in a 1-1 draw against German side Stuttgart in Matchday 3 of the unified Champions League group stage.

This victory marked Atletico’s sixth straight win, following victories over Real Sociedad 3-0, Osasuna 4-0, fierce rivals Real Madrid 2-1, Deportivo Alaves 2-1, and Espanyol 1-0, raising their tally to 25 points in second place and tightening the gap to two points behind leaders Barcelona.

In the second match, Bounou returned Racing Santander to winning ways after a run of four matches without a victory, during which they lost three. The 21-year-old Bounou scored the decisive goal six minutes into stoppage time, after his French teammate Jeanuyal Meriek Beloucif equalized in the 69th minute, responding to Edo Exposito’s opener in the 62nd minute.

Bounou raised his tally to eight goals, tying Barcelona star Lamine Yamal for third place on the top scorers list, while Yamal’s teammate, Brazilian Raphinha, leads with 12 goals, ahead of Real Madrid’s French striker Kylian Mbappe (9).

Bounou, who won the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup with his national team in Chile in autumn 2025, has continued his impressive form with Santander since joining on loan from French club Rennes this summer.

Santander, who secured their third win of the season, moved up to 11 points in 12th place, while Espanyol remained stuck on 8 points in 18th place. Elche defeated Rayo Vallecano 3-0 away, moving to 10 points in 14th place, one point clear of Vallecano in 17th.

Villarreal avoided dropping points with a crucial 2-1 away win against second-from-bottom Valencia. This was the fourth consecutive match without a win for the “Bats,” whose tally remained at 6 points in 19th place. Meanwhile, Villarreal moved up to 12 points in eighth place.

The round concludes today with the match between Sevilla and Osasuna.