Real Madrid 2-1 Valencia (3 Jan 2025) Match Analysis

Late strikes Luka Modric and Jude Bellingham earned 10-man Real Madrid a 2-1 comeback win at the threat of relegation Valencia on Friday as the visitors moved to the top of the LaLiga standings.

Real Madrid were a goal down with five minutes remaining but staged another trademark comeback with Bellingham’s winner arriving seven minutes into stoppage time as Madrid moved to 43 points, two ahead of second Atlético Madridwho has a game in hand.

the fight, rescheduled due to devastating floods in the region in late October, started in a tense atmosphere after home fans clashed with police during anti-club protests outside the Mestalla.

On the field, however, it was an exciting start, like Madrid’s Federico Valverde and Valencia’s Hugo Duro both came close to breaking the deadlock within the opening minutes, only to see their efforts blocked.

Duro then put Valencia ahead in the 27th minute by tapping into an open goal after Thibaut Courtois had blocked Javi Guerrafirst close effort.

Madrid pressed hard for an equalizer but Bellingham missed a golden chance to score with a poor penalty that hit the post Enzo Barrenecheais bad at Kylian Mbappé in the 55th minute.

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Mbappe thought he had equalized five minutes later but his strike was ruled out by VAR for offside.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side were then reduced to 10 men in the 79th minute Vinicius Junior received a straight red card for hitting the Valencia goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski.

The Brazil The forward later apologized for his behavior on his X account, writing: “Sorry and thanks team”.

But substitute Modric finally drew the visitors level when he beat Dimitrievski with a low shot from Bellingham’s through ball five minutes from time.

The England the midfielder then sealed victory, pouncing on goal before calmly beating the keeper with a right-footed finish to hand the hosts their first defeat under new coach Carlos Corberan.

“The missed penalty gave (Bellingham) extra motivation, he gave a few minutes that only he can do. He worked hard, the goal is a deserved reward for him for the game he played,” coach Ancelotti said at a press conference after the match. .

Valencia remain second bottom with 12 points, four points from the safety zone.

“It hurts a lot to lose like this. We are not in a good momentum and we had chances,” Valencia forward Duro told Movistar.

“It hurts a lot to lose the advantage like that, especially after the sending off. We have to focus on the pitch. Whatever is on the outside, it doesn’t matter to us. The fans have helped us.”