After a fantastic first half, the Spanish champions totally collapsed as Alexander Sorloth scored four goals for the home team.

On Sunday, Alexander Sorloth scored four goals to secure a 4–4 draw for Villarreal, shocking Real Madrid. At halftime, Madrid, the La Liga champions, led 4-1 and had players like Arda Guler, Lucas Vazquez, and Brahim Diaz looking fantastic for Carlo Ancelotti’s squad.

Madrid possessed enough firepower, even with bench players like Vinicius Jr., Jude Belingham, Rodrygo, and Toni Kroos, to perhaps sink the Yellow Submarine at home. But Sorloth, who was a continuous source of frustration for Los Blancos, wasn’t going to let his club lose without a fight. He opened the score for the day with a strong header into the net after Yerson Mosquera’s excellent cross reached him. It was 2-1. He then scored again early in the second half, and 52 minutes later, a third goal to make the score 4-3. After a brilliant counterattack by Villarreal, he went past Andriy Lunin once more four minutes later. It now appears that the Norwegian attacker will win La Liga’s best scorer award at the end of the season.

Although Madrid’s capitulation appeared strange, the game eventually calmed down. There were many encouraging signals for the Spanish champions in that second-half outburst, despite Dani Ceballos’ breakdown and Eder Militao’s terrible defending. Guler’s reputation only keeps getting better as he continued his incredible play with two goals. He has now scored in three straight games and six goals from his past seven outings, capping off a fantastic season for the winger that began with heartbreaking injuries. In addition to Joselu and Vazquez’s two assists, Brahim Diaz set up two goals in an impressive performance.

Goalkeeper & Defence

Andriy Lunin (5/10):

Pulled off a couple of saves but saw four goals fly by him as Sorloth went on a rampage.

Lucas Vazquez (8/10):

A strong attacking display as he got two assists and a goal of his own.

Eder Militao (5/10):

Did not look good against the strong presence of Sorloth and was replaced on the hour mark.

Antonio Rudiger (5/10):

Looked fine in the first half but was flustered amid the burst of goals in the second. Put Sorloth off to stop him from heading in a late winner, though.

Fran Garcia (5/10):

Gave the ball away too much and his tackling was poor.

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Midfield

Federico Valverde (6/10):

A fairly quiet performance despite seeing a lot of the ball, but his passing was good and he showed a bit of fight.

Dani Ceballos (5/10):

Flopped in the box as he gave away possession, allowing Villarreal to score.

Luka Modric (6/10):

Sound with his passing as always to offer support to the Madrid attackers.

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Attack

Arda Guler (8/10):

Had a bright start and delivered a good finish to break the deadlock. Then made it look so simple when he added a second.

Joselu (7/10):

A quality header to keep Madrid in the driving seat but he was quiet beyond that.

Brahim Diaz (8/10):

Ended up with two assists, having fed Guler for the first before flicking onto Vazquez for the third.

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Subs & Manager

Eduardo Camavinga (6/10):

Booked shortly after he came on and fought to win the ball in midfield.

Nacho (6/10):

Helped settle Madrid down a bit after their wild start to the second half.

Rodrygo (6/10):

Tried his best to get on the ball and have a run at the defence.

Mario Martin (N/A):

On for the last 10 minutes.

Carlo Ancelotti (6/10):

Rested a lot of key players and got some excellent performances out of his attackers, but seeing them fold for a large spell in the second half will cause some concerns ahead of the Champions League final.