Real Madrid bounced back from their four-match winless run and kept their slim title hopes in La Liga alive with a 2-1 victory over Alaves on Tuesday. Goals from Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr got the job done for Alvaro Arbeloa's side, who closed the gap on leaders Barcelona to six points for at least the next 24 hours.
Amid loud whistles from the home fans towards their players, Madrid started slowly, and Dean Huijsen had to be alert to block a shot from Lucas Boye after Alvaro Carreras was caught out by a long ball over the top. Andriy Lunin, meanwhile, parried a low effort from Toni Martinez as the relegation-threatened visitors began the game in confident mood.
Madrid did, however, break the deadlock on the half-hour mark when Mbappe's shot from 20 yards took a wicked deflection to leave Alaves goalkeeper Antonio Sivera. That seemed to spark Los Blancos into life, too, as Mbappe then stung Sivera's palms, Trent Alexander-Arnold fired narrowly over and Eder Militao hooked an effort onto the crossbar, albeit he suffered an injury in the process that forced him off shortly before half-time.
Alaves still created opportunities of their own, and Martinez went close twice in quick succession, as he first hit the post before having a volley saved by Lunin. Madrid, though, made the game safe early in the second period when Vinicius whipped in a shot from 25 yards to silence those who had been jeering him since the first whistle.
That sparked Arbeloa into a number of changes and one of his substitutes, Brahim Diaz, immediately had a shot cleared off the line. But the alterations also meant Madrid lost a little rhythm, and Alaves continued to probe, with Lunin again called into action to push away a fierce strike from Martinez before Victor Parada hit the post with a diving header.
Martinez did eventually get his goal in stoppage time with a clever flick past Lunin, but it proved to be too little, too late.
GOAL rates Madrid's players from the Bernabeu...
Goalkeeper & Defence
Andriy Lunin (6/10):
Handling wasn't always perfect but made a couple of solid saves. No chance with the goal.
Trent Alexander-Arnold (7/10):
Played some superb passes to keep Madrid moving and open up space for his team-mates. Continuing to improve after his slow start to life in Spain.
Eder Militao (7/10):
Showed great composure in defence and unlucky not to score when he hit the crossbar. So unfortunate to suffer yet another injury which forced him off shortly before half-time.
Dean Huijsen (7/10):
On his toes early on to deny Boye and rarely looked troubled from there. Passed the ball into midfield effectively
Alvaro Carreras (5/10):
Caught out by a ball over the top early on and never looked wholly comfortable defensively. Did help create some attacking overloads down the left.
Midfield
Aurelien Tchouameni (8/10):
Dominant at the base of the Madrid midfield as he routinely won the ball back. Almost scored with a diving header early in the second half.
Fede Valverde (6/10):
Constantly in motion as he switched between about three different positions off the right. Took one nasty bang to his knee which he was able to shake off.
Jude Bellingham (7/10):
Constantly drifted out wide to the right and combined well with compatriot Alexander-Arnold. Swung in a number of dangerous crosses that weren't converted.
Arda Guler (6/10):
One of his quieter games. Made a couple of nice runs off the back of his marker but couldn't create much of note.
Attack
Kylian Mbappe (7/10):
A performance full of flicks, tricks and bursts of pace that left the Alaves defence chasing shadows at times. Very lucky that his fanciful effort was deflected in for the opener, however.
Vinicius Jr (7/10):
Ran down a few too many blind allies early on but posed a pretty constant threat. Superb finish made the points safe shortly after the break.
Subs & Manager
Antonio Rudiger (5/10):
Never convinced after replacing the stricken Militao. Displayed a striking lack of composure when compared to his team-mates.
Brahim Diaz (6/10):
Almost scored with one of his first touches and posed a threat after replacing Bellingham.
Franco Mastantuono (5/10):
Struggled to get involved after giving Guler a rest.
Eduardo Camavinga (4/10):
Booed onto the pitch and it looked to really effect his confidence. At fault for Alaves creating a couple of late chances due to lapses around his own penalty area.
Dani Carvajal (6/10):
Almost found Vinicius with a testing low cross and made a couple of key defensive contributions in his half-hour on the pitch.
Alvaro Arbeloa (6/10):
Got the job done and managed to give some key players the majority of the second half off. Won't be happy with the amount of chances Alaves created, but the result at least eases some pressure on his position.