Real Madrid beat Osasuna 4-0 in La Liga on Saturday, with a hat trick from Vinicius Junior. This was their first win after two straight losses at home, but defender Eder Militao hurt his knee badly. Later, Villarreal moved up to third place with a 3-0 win over Alaves at home.
After losing to Barcelona in a league derby and then to AC Milan in the Champions League, Carlo Ancelotti’s Madrid team really needed this win at the Santiago Bernabeu to improve their confidence.
The Spanish and European winners beat Osasuna easily thanks to Vinicius’s three goals. Jude Bellingham scored his first goal of the season for Real Madrid.
But Kylian Mbappe, Madrid’s star scorer, couldn’t score again. He has only scored one goal in his last seven games.
Brazilian backline Militao tore the cruciate ligament in his right knee and will miss the rest of the season. Rodrygo and Lucas Vazquez were also hurt and had to leave the game.
Bulls player Militao missed most of last season with a similar injury to his left knee, so Bellingham said, “It’s terrible to see these injuries.”
“He fought so hard to get back here with us…” It hurts your heart.
Second place Barcelona’s lead at the top of La Liga was cut down to six points by Madrid. On Sunday, Barcelona will play at Real Sociedad.
Coach Ancelotti of Real Madrid told reporters, “Vinicius made the difference again today, as he has done many times before.”
Even though he was the favorite to win the Ballon d’Or at the end of October, the Brazilian came in second place, losing to Rodri of Manchester City.
“The fact that he didn’t win the Ballon d’Or is a small thing that hasn’t affected him after what we saw today,” Ancelotti said.
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Before the half-hour, Militao was taken off on a cart while holding the back of his right knee. He had fell to the ground in Osasuna’s area.
David Alaba, Aurelien Tchouameni, and Dani Carvajal were already hurt, so his leaving was even worse for Madrid.
Ancelotti replaced Militao with Raul Asencio, a defender who is 21 years old and is making his debut after coming up through the youth school.
Vinicius high note
Even though they had some difficulties, Madrid took the lead in the 34th minute when Vinicus scored with a whipped shot at the near post.
Last season, Bellingham’s goals were very important for Real Madrid. He scored his first goal of the season with a beautiful lob after Asencio played him a long ball that put him in on goal.
Fifth-placed Osasuna had fought well in the beginning but quickly lost steam.
When Thibaut Courtois got hurt, Real Madrid goalie Andriy Lunin filled in for him and sent a long ball to Vinicius, who scored his second goal. To finish, he went around the goalie.
To finish his hat-trick, the winger scored his ninth goal in six games across all competitions.
At one point, Brahim Diaz won the ball deep in Osasuna territory and set up Vinicius for an easy goal to finish off the rout.
Vinicius said, “I’m happy with the goals, but I’m sorry Militao has to go through that again.”
After Vinicius was taken off in the last few minutes, Mbappe played on the left, where he usually plays, but he couldn’t score because of his own problems, even though Madrid’s got better.
“Mbappe went well with others… “He wasn’t able to score, but he was always there,” Ancelotti said.
“He will score again before and after this run, for sure.”
It was Vini and Bellingham who scored today. He could score in the next game.
Los Blancos kept a clean sheet, which helped them stop a run of nine goals given up in three straight home games.
Villarreal kept up their good start to the season with an easy win at home over Alaves.
The home team scored through Ilias Akhomach, who was later taken off hurt, Dani Parejo with a penalty, and Santi Comesana, who came on as a replacement.
Last weekend’s game between Villarreal and Rayo Vallecano had to be pushed back because of the terrible flooding in the Valencia area after a big storm.
The east coast club, which usually plays in bright yellow, wore a special black kit to honor the dead. At least 220 people were killed.