JAKARTA - No Kylian Mbappe, no problem for Real Madrid. His replacement, Gonzalo Garcia showed his sharpness by scoring a hat-trick as Madrid destroyed Real Betis 5-1 in a Spanish LaLiga match at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, Sunday, January 4, 2026 WIB.
Coach Xabi Alonso is under pressure again and rumors of dismissal, again, are emerging. Even though he has returned to the winning track, Alonso's position is still not safe. The reason is that Madrid still can't get close to rival Barcelona who are comfortable occupying the top of the standings.
The pressure on Alonso is getting heavier when Madrid loses Mbappe who suffered a knee injury. How not, the captain of the French national team became the focus of the goal when Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo experienced a decline.
But when Mbappe was lost, Alonso confidently put Gonzalo Garcia. The young player from Real Madrid Castilla, coached by the legend Raul Gonzalez, has emerged in the 2025 Club World Cup.
However, Garcia, who is still 21 years old, did not immediately get a place in the main team. Moreover, the front sector of Los Merengues is already very crowded.
Even Madrid was eventually forced to loan young Brazilian striker Endrick to Lyon to get flight time because the 2026 World Cup is getting closer. Meanwhile, Garcia still warms the bench and becomes Mbappe's cover.
Garcia's chance to show his ability finally came when he entered the starting line-up in the match against Betis. However, Alonso did not put him as a centre forward, but Garcia duet with Vinicius Jr in a 4-4-2 formation.
The result was not disappointing, it was very satisfying. Even though he had to wait until the 20th minute, Garcia finally broke the deadlock when he passed Rodrygo's free kick. His header gave Madrid a 1-0 lead.
However, Madrid lost momentum and let Betis out of the pressure. As a result, the team coached by Manuel Pellegrini, who once designed Madrid and Manchester City, was able to create a number of opportunities.
Even Betis' attack was more dangerous even though it didn't completely threaten Thibaut Courtois' goal. The score 1-0 for Madrid lasted until halftime.
Entering the second half, Madrid returned to the original game and immediately threatened the Betis defense. This time, the hosts didn't take long to consolidate the lead.
The match only lasted five minutes, Garcia again completed the excellent assist from Federico Valverde. Starting from Valverde's long pass, he managed to control the ball and then fired a volley that broke into the Betis goal.
The 2-0 lead made Madrid more aggressive in the attacking game. They only needed to wait six minutes to add a goal.
This time, Raul Asencio broke the Betis goal. Asencio, who is also a Madrid Castilla alumnus, greeted Rodrygo's corner to change the score to 3-0.
Betis finally managed to narrow the gap after trying hard to match Madrid's attacking game. Moreover, Madrid began to reduce the pressure and play relaxed.
The visiting team's efforts bore fruit when Cucho Hernandez showed off Courtois' goalkeeper and then fired into an empty net.
The goal in the 66th minute made the score change to 3-1. However, Madrid was unstoppable. They again put pressure and Garcia successfully scored a hat-trick when he greeted Arda Guler's cross in the 82nd minute. The goal received applause and applause from the fans.
"This is a special three goals. This is my first hat-trick at the Bernabeu. It's also my first goal this season," Garcia said as quoted by france24.
"Of course I'm happy to be able to play with the best players in the world like Mbappe, Rodrygo, (Jude) Bellingham and Vinicius. But I try to stay focused and always take the opportunities given by the coach. I really want to help the team every time I play," he said.
Madrid is still not satisfied. This time, young defender Fran Garcia closed Madrid's goal party. Garcia, who was also trained by Madrid at the junior level, welcomed Valverde's assist, which made the team 5-1 ahead in injury time. The score remained until the end of the match.
The victory made Madrid back to keep the points gap with the leader of the standings Barcelona. Madrid, who has collected 45 points, is still four points behind Barca.
Meanwhile, Betis failed to approach Espanyol who previously suffered a defeat against Barca. Betis remained in sixth place with 28 points. Five points behind Espanyol.
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