Keystone SDA | Saturday, October 5th, 2024
Federico Valverde brought Real Madrid to victory with his goal
Those: KEYSTONE/AP/Bernat Armangue
Real Madrid wins the duel against Villarreal in the 9th round of La Liga. Thanks to the 2-0 win, the champions move up to FC Barcelona.
After nine games, the Madrilenians have the same number of points as arch-rivals Barça, but have played one more game than the Catalans. The league leaders can follow suit at Alaves on Sunday.
Federico Valverde with a remarkable long-range shot after just under a quarter of an hour and Vinicius Junior a quarter of an hour before the end – also from outside the penalty area – secured Real’s fifth win in their fifth home game.
Three days after the surprising 1-0 defeat in the Champions League in Lille, the Madrilenians played without the injured Thibaut Courtois, but with Kylian Mbappé in the starting line-up. The French superstar and captain of the national team was not selected by coach Didier Deschamps for the international matches against Israel and Belgium due to a muscle injury. Now the 25-year-old has apparently recovered faster than expected.