Mbappe and Rodrygo deliver crucial La Liga win for Madrid against Alaves

Real Madrid secured a hard-fought 2–1 victory over Deportivo Alavés at the Estadio de Mendizorroza, ending a six-game winless run in LaLiga and maintaining pressure at the top of the table.

The visitors began with intent and nearly struck inside the opening 10 minutes when Kylian Mbappé’s trademark curling effort drifted narrowly over Antonio Sivera’s crossbar.

Moments later, Federico Valverde threaded a clever pass through to Rodrygo, but the Brazilian dragged his close-range effort wide.

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Madrid’s persistence paid off in the 24th minute. Jude Bellingham split the Alavés defence with a perfectly weighted through ball, allowing Mbappé to cut inside Nahuel Tenaglia before bending a superb 18-yard finish into the top-right corner.

It was a goal that underlined Madrid’s growing attacking cohesion.

Los Blancos thought they had doubled their advantage three minutes later when Bellingham turned home from an Arda Güler corner, but celebrations were cut short after VAR ruled the goal out for handball.

Alavés, largely subdued in the final third, nearly found an equaliser in first-half stoppage time, only for Thibaut Courtois to produce a remarkable reflex save—using his face—to deny Antonio Ibáñez at point-blank range.

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Madrid went into the interval 1–0 ahead, with Opta’s live predictor giving Carlo Ancelotti’s side a 79% chance of victory.

The visitors started the second half strongly, with both Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior forcing saves from Sivera as Madrid looked to put the game beyond reach. Instead, it was the hosts who struck next.

In the 68th minute, substitute Carlos Vicente made an instant impact, firing emphatically into the top-right corner from 18 yards after controlling a sublime pass from Antonio Blanco.

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Buoyed by the equaliser, Alavés pushed forward and came agonisingly close to taking the lead when Vicente’s right-wing cross was met by Lucas Boyé, whose toe-poked effort slid just wide of the left-hand post. That miss proved costly.

Madrid restored their advantage in the 76th minute through Rodrygo. Vinícius Júnior did the damage down the left flank, skipping past his marker before cutting the ball back for Rodrygo, who calmly finished into the bottom-right corner to seal the points.

The victory keeps Real Madrid second in the LaLiga standings, four points behind leaders Barcelona, while Alavés remain 12th.

Attention now turns to midweek Copa del Rey action, with Alavés hosting Sevilla and Madrid travelling to face Talavera, before both sides return to league duty on Saturday—Alavés against Osasuna and Real Madrid at home to Sevilla.