Valencia shock Real Madrid to take huge step towards safety in fiery clash
While the visitors’ season effectively ended with the humiliating 4-0 defeat to Manchester City in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final on Wednesday, Valencia's future remained up in the air heading into this clash. A lacklustre campaign had left them just two points above the relegation zone with three games remaining, and their situation would've been much worse had they not picked up three wins in their previous five.
However, that resurgence has given Ruben Baraja’s men confidence, and although Real Madrid dominated possession in the opening period, the hosts were by far the more dangerous and took the lead shortly before half-time. Diego Lopez was the goalscorer, showing composure to slot Justin Kluivert’s ball into the corner and give his side a crucial advantage at the interval.
Unsurprisingly, Baraja’s outfit showed far more hunger than their more illustrious opponents, who have already qualified for next season’s premier European club competition, and they continued to seemingly win every contested ball after the break.
Valencia should have doubled their lead within seven minutes of the restart, but Thibaut Courtois thwarted Lopez with a strong right hand. Real then slowly started to improve as the half went on, with Rodrygo firing over from a good position, but around the 65th-minute mark, the match itself became almost secondary.
Firstly, Real were awarded a free-kick when Eray Comert fired a stray ball at Vinicius Junior as the Brazilian looked to break into the penalty area - an incident which appeared to require a glance at the laws of the game - before the match was halted as the Brazilian and his teammates complained about a comment coming from a member of the home crowd.
The 22-year-old has been the target of racist abuse several times during his stint in Spain and, although it is unclear what was said on this occasion, the winger was clearly incensed.
Once play got back underway, Carlo Ancelotti’s men's desire to clinch an equaliser increased, but Valencia held on to secure a vital win, although they had Giorgi Mamardashvili to thank for two stunning stops to deny Fede Valverde and Toni Kroos.
Just as tempers appeared to have calmed, a fracas in injury time led to Vinicius catching an opponent in the face with a stray hand, which resulted in him receiving a red card.
Barring an unexpected combination of results, Valencia will remain amongst the Spanish elite next term, but the unsavoury scenes unfortunately partly cloud over this triumph. It remains to be seen how the situation is addressed in the coming days.
