LALIGA: Table And Match Review After Saturday's Games

Real Madrid extended their lead at the top of La Liga with a dominant 3-0 win over Real Valladolid, thanks to a clinical hat-trick from Kylian Mbappé. The victory came at a perfect time for Los Blancos, as Atlético Madrid dropped more points, allowing Madrid to move four points clear at the summit.


Valladolid, despite their position at the bottom of the table, started brightly and could have taken the lead within the first few minutes. Thibaut Courtois was forced into a strong save to deny David Torres' header from a corner, and later tipped Mamadou Sylla’s shot wide. At the other end, Antonio Rüdiger’s long-range effort was parried away by Valladolid goalkeeper Karl Hein, with Aurélien Tchouaméni heading the resulting corner just over the bar.

It took until the 30th minute for Real Madrid to break the deadlock. A quick one-two between Jude Bellingham and Mbappé allowed the French forward to curl a precise shot into the far corner, giving the visitors a 1-0 lead at half-time.

In the second half, Madrid took control as Mbappé netted his second goal of the game. He latched onto a pass from Rodrygo and expertly slotted the ball into the bottom corner to make it 2-0. The visitors continued to dominate, with Luka Modrić coming close to adding a third with a shot that just missed the post.

As the match drew to a close, Valladolid's Mario Martín was sent off for a second yellow card, and Real Madrid were awarded a penalty. Mbappé calmly converted, completing his hat-trick and sealing the 3-0 win for Madrid.


Elsewhere, Atletico Madrid saw their seven-match winning streak at home come to an end as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Villarreal at the Estadio Metropolitano in La Liga. Despite dominating possession early on, it was Villarreal who struck first, with Gerard Moreno converting a penalty after Reinildo Mandava fouled him inside the box. Atlético had been expecting to build on early pressure, but instead, Villarreal remained resilient, with goalkeeper Luiz Júnior playing a crucial role in keeping them ahead after a strong shot from Julián Alvarez in the 20th minute.

Atlético's hopes of a comeback suffered a setback just before halftime when Axel Witsel's timely intervention denied Moreno a second goal, as the forward was poised to score following a Yéremy Pino assist. The second half saw Atlético begin to find their rhythm. Ángel Correa saw his shot blocked off the line by Logan Costa, but their equalizer finally came on the 58th minute. A cross into the box from Nahuel Molina was followed by a scramble in the area, with Samuel Lino pouncing on a rebound to score from close range.

The game continued to be tense, as Villarreal could have reclaimed the lead in the final stages. Ayoze Pérez's header went just wide of the right post, and Atlético nearly snatched a winner in the dying minutes. Pablo Barrios' shot was blocked after a Villarreal defensive error, while Antoine Griezmann missed narrowly following a precise pass from Lino.


In the end, Villarreal held firm to secure a valuable point, extending their unbeaten run against Atletico to two matches and maintaining their fifth-place standing in La Liga. Atlético, on the other hand, saw their chance to go top temporarily slip away.

Hala Madrid