The Yellow Submarine surprised at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium. (AFP)
Real Madrid was defeated at home 3-2 by a Villarreal team led by Samuel Chukwueze, this Saturday for LaLiga matchday 28, further complicating their chances of fighting for the title.
Leader Barcelona12 points ahead of Madrid (2nd), has a great opportunity to deal a great blow to the championship, on Monday at the Camp Nou against Girona in a Catalan derby.
The defeat supposes a slump for the real Madrid just before opening their Champions League quarter-final tie against Chelsea on Wednesday.
It also makes the confidence gained by the team’s last two wins evaporate, the 6-0 win over Valladolid last weekend in the League and, above all, the 4-0 win in Barcelona on Wednesday in the second leg of the Copa del Rey semifinals. Rey, where Carlo Ancelotti’s team sealed their ticket to the final.
Karim Benzema signed two hat-tricks in those games. This time he came up to zero and his team missed his inspiration a lot.
In this Saturday’s game, Real Madrid took the lead after 16 minutes thanks to a both against Pau Torreswho introduced the ball into his goal when trying to cut off a pass from Marcos Asensio directed towards Benzema.
He villarreal tied before the break, at 39′, when the Nigerian Samu Chukwueze He received from the Argentine Giovani Lo Celso on the front, stepped on the area, dribbled past Nacho Fernández and settled into a shooting position that allowed him to make it 1-1.
At the start of the second half, the Brazilian Vinicius Jr. (48′) put the locals ahead again: he received from Dani Ceballos, entered the area, got rid of the harassment of three rivals and in the face-to-face against Pepe Reina he did not forgive.
Jose Luis Morales, after a rebound in the area after a first attempt, signed the draw at two in minute 71′. Chukwueze’s offside goal was initially disallowed at the time of the cross, but the review in the VAR ruled that it was valid.
Chukwueze confirmed himself as the hero of the night at the Bernabéu by signing the goal of the 3-2 win for his team, with a shot from outside the area in minute 80.
The VAR was also the protagonist in minute 82, when the referee Javier Alberola Rojas whistled a penalty for the meringues but then backtracked after analyzing the images.
