Real Madrid reduced the distance between themselves and Barcelona at the top of the standings to five points with a 2-0 victory against Valencia at the Bernabeu in La Liga.
When Antonio Rudiger leapt highest to meet Luka Modric’s corner kick delivery shortly before halftime, Real Madrid felt they had taken the lead. Madrid had been the more effective team in the first half. The goal, however, was ruled off by VAR due to a foul committed by Karim Benzema on Yunus Musah.
In the early stages of the second half, Benzema would atone for his mistake. With 52 minutes played, the France international found Marco Asensio on the outside of the box, and the 27-year-old slammed the ball past Giorgi Mamardashvili.
Real Madrid Scored In Second Half
Later, in the 55th minute, Vinicius Junior made his 200th appearance for the team when he pounced on a through pass from Karim Benzema, raced toward goal, and sidefooted his team into a 2-0 lead.
When Gabriel Paulista was dismissed in the 72nd minute for a nasty foul on Vinicius, Valencia’s chances of salvaging anything from the game were put to an end. Carlo Ancelotti’s team then easily won the game.
However, Real Madrid’s February calendar is jam-packed with games against Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, and a Champions League matchup versus Liverpool.
To bring them through this time, Ancelotti will have to rely on the entire group of players. Unfortunately, Los Blancos appear to have lost two vital players to injury, with Karim Benzema leaving against Valencia in the second half and Eder Militao leaving in the first. As one of Madrid’s top defenders this year, Militao may not be available to replace the centre-back spots if Alaba is out. Madridistas have previously expressed concern over Benzema’s fitness issues this season.
The coach and his squad will be quite concerned about the injuries to Benzema and Milito, but ideally we can hope both players will be healthy enough to play in the upcoming match.
