November 12, (THEWILL) – Real Madrid returned to winning ways in style on Saturday, with a 5-1 victory over Valencia in La Liga. The commanding performance keeps Los Blancos within touching distance of league leaders Girona.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side were stung by a disappointing home draw against Rayo Vallecano last weekend. But they responded in emphatic fashion at the Santiago Bernabeu, with Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo each bagging braces in the rout.
Madrid captain Dani Carvajal opened the scoring in just the 3rd minute with a thunderous half-volley from distance. Vinicius then doubled the lead on the stroke of halftime after being teed up by Rodrygo.
The Brazilian duo combined again early in the second half, with Vinicius adding his second after a slick passing move. Barely a minute later, Rodrygo intercepted a wayward pass from Valencia keeper Giorgi Mamardashvili to make it 4-0.
Rodrygo grabbed his second late on after twisting and turning in the box to fire home and complete the demolition. Valencia notched a late consolation through Hugo Duro but it did little to take the shine off Madrid’s swashbuckling display.
The result leaves Ancelotti’s charges two points behind Girona at the top of La Liga heading into the international break. They will look to keep the pressure on when domestic action resumes away to Cadiz in two weeks.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
