Real Madrid Ends Winless Run with Tense Victory
Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior dragged Real Madrid out of their slump, but the night at the Bernabéu still ended with a frown.
Madrid snapped a four-game winless run with a tense 2-1 victory over Alavés, closing the gap to Spanish league leader Barcelona to six points. It was a needed response after the Champions League exit to Bayern Munich and a stuttering spell in La Liga that had yielded just one point from two matches.
The mood, though, never quite settled.
Nervous Bernabéu watches on
This was Madrid’s first outing since Bayern dumped them out in the Champions League quarterfinals, 2-1 in Madrid and 4-3 in Germany. The scars showed early. The team started flat, the stadium restless.
Alavés, hovering just a point above the relegation zone, carved out early chances and sensed vulnerability. Anxiety spread quickly in the stands. Some fans jeered as Madrid misfired, and even at full time, with three points secured, boos still slipped through — especially after a late Alavés goal.
Mbappé finally cut through the tension on the half-hour. His shot took a deflection off an Alavés defender, wrong-footing goalkeeper Antonio Sivera and rolling in. It wasn’t the cleanest strike of his career, but it was his 24th league goal of the season and his first in La Liga since February. Relief, not euphoria, washed around the Bernabéu.
Just before the break, another concern arrived.
Militao worry before halftime
Eder Militao, only recently re-established as a key piece in Madrid’s back line, had to come off just before halftime with an injury. The club later indicated it did not appear to be serious, but the sight of the Brazil defender leaving early will have unsettled a fan base still bruised by recent disappointments and wary of any new setback.
Madrid did at least give themselves breathing room after the interval.
Five minutes into the second half, Vinícius stepped up. The Brazilian, who had gone six games without a goal for club and country, unleashed a long-range strike that flew beyond Sivera to make it 2-0. It felt like the kind of goal that can jolt a player — and a team — back into rhythm.
Yet Madrid never killed the game off. Alavés stayed in it, pushed late, and were rewarded in stoppage time when Toni Martínez pulled one back. It was too late to steal a point, but it underlined Madrid’s fragility and kept the Bernabéu on edge right to the whistle.
For Alavés, it was another frustrating chapter in a grim run: just one win in their last nine league matches, that solitary victory coming away at Celta Vigo in March.
Around La Liga
Elsewhere, Spain goalkeeper Unai Simón delivered for Athletic Bilbao. His penalty save and several sharp stops preserved a 1-0 home win over Osasuna, keeping the Basque side firmly in the top half in ninth place.
Mallorca and Valencia shared a 1-1 draw, a result that does little to transform either side’s season.
At Girona, there was late drama. Fifth-place Real Betis edged an 11th-place Girona side 3-2, with Rodrigo Riquelme striking an 80th-minute winner to keep Betis pressing in the European chase.
Madrid got what it needed: a win, goals for its star forwards, and a title race kept alive. But with Militao’s fitness under watch and the crowd still quick to turn, how long can this uneasy truce with their own stadium last?
