JAKARTA - Real Madrid's dramatic victory when hosting Rayo Vallecano in a Spanish La Liga match. Kylian Mbappe's penalty in the 90+10 minute was the deciding factor in the 2-1 victory in the match at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, Sunday, February 1, 2026 WIB.
Madrid had to accept a bitter reality because they were booed by their own supporters when hosting Vallecano. The 4-2 defeat against Benfica in the last match of the Champions League qualifying round was like the peak of the fans' disappointment over the poor performance of Los Merengues.
Even though the club has changed coaches because Xabi Alonso was considered to have failed to meet expectations, he was immediately dismissed in the middle of the competition. His replacement, Alvaro Arbeloa, has not fully achieved expectations even though Madrid's performance has not disappointed.
Only the defeat of the club's opponents from the lower division Albacete resulted in their elimination in the Copa del Rey and then in the Champions League, making the team a target of ridicule for supporters. Moreover, the defeat of Benfica made Madrid have to play a playoff to get a ticket to the 16th round. Ironically in that round, Madrid met Benfica again.
Poor results in European competitions like being a pebble that disturbs the feet of Madrid players when playing at home. The situation is getting worse when midfielder Jude Bellingham is injured. The match has only been running for 10 minutes, Bellingham fell and felt pain in the back of his thigh. The England national team player had to cry when he felt pain from a hamstring injury.
The injury took quite a long time so it threatened Bellingham's chances of appearing at the 2026 World Cup. Only after undergoing further examinations, Bellingham only needed to rest for three weeks to recover.
Bellingham's position was replaced by Brahim Diaz, who actually played a role in the creation of Madrid's first goal. A pass from Diaz was successfully completed by Vinicius Junior in the 15th minute.
The score changed 1-0 for Madrid. After the goal, Madrid actually continued to pressure. Only their efforts did not bear fruit and the score remained until the first half ended.
Entering the second half, Madrid did not change the game. Only, Vallecano tried to catch up with Madrid. Even the visiting team was able to make a surprise by equalizing the score to 1-1 in the 49th minute. Vallecano's goal was produced by Jorge de Frutos who greeted Alvaro Garcia's cross.
Not stopping there, Vallecano should have turned ahead if Andrei Ratiu did not miss a good opportunity. Starting from Ratiu's action who ran to meet the ball and was facing goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. However, the Belgian goalkeeper managed to make a brilliant save that thwarted Ratiu's kick.
It's just that when Vallecano managed to equalize Madrid's game, they lost a player. Midfielder Pathe Ciss made a hard foul against Dani Ceballos which made him receive a red card in the 80th minute.
Playing with 10 men, Vallecano chose to strengthen the defense line. This situation was maximized by Madrid to add goals by confining the opponent. However, Madrid's efforts did not bear fruit.
When the match entered injury time, Madrid finally added a goal from the penalty spot. Defender Nobel Mendy committed a foul against Diaz in the penalty box which made the referee point to the white spot. The penalty execution was also well executed by Mbappe.
The score changed 2-1. Shortly after, Vallecano played with 10 men following Pep Chavarria's foul against Rodrygo. He received a second yellow card followed by a red card.
The victory over Vallecano made Madrid manage to cut the points gap with the leader of the standings Barcelona. Now, Madrid has 54 points or one point behind Barca.
Meanwhile, Vallecano is struggling at the bottom. They deserve to be wary because they are ranked 17th or one strip above the relegation zone. With 22 points, Vallecano is only one point ahead of Mallorca who are in 18th place.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
