Real Madrid vs Villarreal summary: score, goals, highlights, LaLiga
Real Madrid vs Villarreal: as it happened
That's all from me tonight. Thanks for joining and see you next time!
Real Madrid 2-3 Villarreal
Villarreal come from behind twice to win in the capital. They move into 5th place ahead of Real Betis with the win.
It's now looking like the title is heading to Camp Nou.
If Barcelona manage to beat Girona on Monday, they will go 15 points clear of Madrid.
Villarreal have beaten Real Madrid at the Bernabéu!
And the whistle for full-time goes!
Asensio blasts his free over the bar!
Villarreal are setting their wall up...
Vinícius is fouled just outside the box and Madrid have a free...
Villarreal are holding on to their narrow lead.
We're into the fifth of seven minutes added on.
Modric can't make the most of his effort and Villarreal have a goal-kick.
Rodrygo's free-kick is deflected out for a corner.
Vinícius takes on what looks like half of the Villarreal team before picking out Rodrygo. The latter hits the side netting.
So it's as you were: Real Madrid 2-3 Villarreal
NO PENALTY!
After a VAR check, the decision has been made, and Villarreal can breathe again.
Camavinga goes over in the box...
It's going to VAR
PENALTY!
MADRID have a penalty!
Courtois has no chance and Villarreal have the lead at the Bernabéu!
That is absolutely brilliant. What a strike from the 23-year-old!
He cuts back onto his left foot and bends a shot from 25 yards into the top corner!
Take a bow, Samu! Take a bow!
ASENSIO!
Reina saves the Spanish forward's left-footed volley. Modric played the former Mallorca man through but the shot is right down the middle.
Rodrygo goes flying through on the inside left channel. They can't get near him as he sends a shot into the side netting.
Morales is only on the pitch and he has equalised for Villarreal with a low finish from just inside the box.
Morales has the ball in the net but it has been ruled out for offside!
Villarreal make double change
Setién sends on two more players.
Morales and Alberto Moreno come in.
Courtois comes sliding off his line and clears. The ball falls to Yeremy Pino, who spots the Belgian way off his line and curls an long-distance strike wide of the far post. Setién can't believe it and it remains 2-1 to Madrid.
The Uruguayan steam train makes an instant impact to set up Vinícius, who could have a hat-trick by now, but the shot is deflected out for a corner.
Second Madrid change
OFF Benzema
ON Valverde
Ancelotti wraps Benzema up in cotton wool ahead of the clash with Chelsea.
Villarreal have the ball in the net but Mandi is offside.
Parejo's corner is headed to Mandi, who is clearly offside when he scores.
Fede Valverde is getting his final instructions from Carlo Ancelotti and will be sent on shortly.
What a chance!
Benzema plays Vinícius in but he curls his shot wide of Reina's near post.
It's excellent play by Ceballos to win it back and start the move.
Lo Celso's left-footed free-kick curls over the wall but it's an easy one for Courtois to claim.
Don't get me wrong, Vinícius had a lot to do before he scored but the defending is shocking and Setién will be livid after his side got back into the game.
Real Madrid 2-1 Villarreal
Real Madrid have taken the lead once again!
It's far too easy for the Brazilian who slides through Chukwueze and Mandi to slip it under Reina.
We're underway for the second half!
Real Madrid are making a change.
The sides are in the tunnel ahead of the second half in the Spanish capital.
All square at half-time
Madrid took the lead through a Pau Torres own goal but Villarreal kept playing and drew level with a fine Chukwueze goal.
Nacho heads just wide from an Asensio inswinger.
And there's the whistle for half-time!
Courtois dives to his right to save Lo Celso's low effort from inside the box.
That was Chukwueze's twelfth goal of the season. He's on fire of late.
Vinícius beats Foyth but the ball goes over the byline and it's a goal-kick for Reina.
Tchouaméni catches Chukwueze. It looks quite nasty and the goalscorer is down.
Chukwueze goes one way and then the other, leaving Nacho for dead before firing it past Courtois.
Pedraza picks up a yellow for pulling Asensio back.
Lo Celso picks out Baena, who hits it first time from 25 yards. It flies over the bar. Real Madrid lead 1-0.
Terrats has been excellent since coming into the Villarreal first team in recent months. That is a blow for him and the Castellón club.
Villarreal midfielder Terrats has a muscular problem and will have to come off.
Madrid look to exploit the space on the left and play in Vinícius again. His cross is cleared by Baena tracking back.
Vinícius sends a cross across the box but Lucas can't reach it as he goes sliding in.
Villarreal transition quickly through Chukwueze, who sends his effort from 25 yards over the bar.
Yeremi Pino receives a booking for a foul on Rudiger.
Chukwueze does so well to beat not just Nacho, but also Ceballos. He then drags his low effort wide of Courtois' goal. The 23-year-old has 11 goals and 11 assists this season.
Play has been suspended at the Masters so it's the perfect time for you to follow along!
Madrid scored 10 goals in their two games before tonight. Even with all the changes made by Ancelotti, it hasn't taken them long to score versus the Yellow Submarine.
Real Madrid have a narrow lead but it could be more. Pepe Reina is showing his experience to keep it at 1-0.
Reina keeps Madrid out again!
This time he makes himself big to deny Rodrygo.
Asensio links up nicely with Vinícius before crossing from the byline. It hits off Pau Torres to give Los Blancos a 1-0 lead.
VINÍCIUS!
What a chance!
He looks to curl it into the far corner but sends his effort just wide of the post.
Vinícius, near the halfway line, bends a pass in behind the Villarreal defence for Nacho, who goes bursting forward. Mandi eventually slides to block Nacho's low cross from the left.
Terrats catches Vinícius and Madrid have a free. The best chance of the game thus far has been Rudiger's early header.
Villarreal are playing without a natural number 9 tonight and have lined out in a 4-4-2 formation. They are unbeaten in their last five league games.
Ancelotti clearly has one eye on the Chelsea game on Wednesday as he has rested Modric, Kroos, Camavinga, Valverde, Militao and Carvajal.
Pau Torres heads the Madrid corner away. The second corner is played short and crossed into the box, where Rudiger sees his header saved by Reina.
Real Madrid come into this in a confident mood and are aiming to close the gap with leaders Barcelona.
Carlo Ancelotti's side are 12 points adrift, but they are hopeful that the Blaugrana can still lose ground.
Just thirty seconds in and Foyth lets Vinícius know he's there. That will definitely be one to watch.
Real Madrid kick us off and are playing from left to right as we watch it.
Both sides are wearing their home kits tonight.
Benzema meets Parejo for the pre-match handshakes.
The teams are on their way out!
Kick-off is just five minutes away!
My prediction: Real Madrid 2-0 Villarreal
Real Madrid starting XI
- goalkeeper
- 1Courtois
- defenders
- 4Alaba
- 6Nacho
- 22Rüdiger
- 17Lucas Vázquez
- midfielders
- 18Aurelien Tchouameni
- 11Marco Asensio
- 19Dani Ceballos
- forwards
- 9Benzema
- 20Vinicius Junior
- 21Rodrygo
- substitutes
- CoachCarlo Ancelottis
- 16Álvaro Odriozola
- 3Eder Militao
- 10Modric
- 15Federico Valverde
- 7Hazard
- 13Andriy Lunin
- 8Kroos
- 26Luis López
- 12Camavinga
- 2Dani Carvajal
- 24Mariano
- 5Jesús Vallejo
Villarreal's only win away to Real Madrid
Villarreal have only won once at the Santiago Bernabéu, something they did in January 2018 with a goal from midfielder Pablo Fornals.
It took the team from Castellón 18 years to claim their first win away to Madrid.
Villarreal XI vs Real Madrid
Pepe Reina; Foyth, Mandi, Pau Torres, Pedraza; Terrats, Parejo, Lo Celso; Chukwueze, Yeremy Pino, Baena.
Quique Setién has only made one change, with Lo Celso replacing Morales.
Subs
Real Madrid: Lunin, Luis López, Carvajal, Odriozola, Vallejo, Militao, Camavinga, Modric, Kroos, Valverde, Hazard, Mariano
Villarreal: Jörgensen, Kiko Femenía, Jorge Cuenca, Alberto Moreno, Mojica, Carlo Adriano, Trigueros, Hassan, Morales
Big names rested
Carlo Ancelotti has announced his eleven for tonight's match against Villarreal.
Modric, Kroos, Camavinga, Valverde, Militao and Carvajal have all been rested with Chelsea coming up on Wednesday.
After Real Madrid’s Copa del Rey semi-final win over Barcelona on Wednesday, Carlo Ancelotti remains in a position to finish the season level with Zinedine Zidane as the club’s second-most decorated head coach.
Zidane, who was Ancelotti’s assistant in the 2013/14 campaign, lifted 11 trophies during his two stints as Bernabéu boss. Ancelotti - also across two spells - currently has nine.
Although Madrid are all but out of the LaLiga title race this term, Los Blancos have the chance to claim the Copa del Rey when they face Osasuna in May’s final in Seville, and remain in contention to retain their Champions League crown. The 14-time continental champions take on Chelsea this month in the quarter-finals of Europe’s elite club competition.
Bernabéu nights
There will be 700 fans at the Bernabéu tonight to cheer on the Yellow Submarine.
Key man: Samuel Chukwueze
The 23-year-old winger gave Real Madrid problems in the most recent games between the sides and scored against Los Blancos.
In all competitions this season, he has scored an impressive 11 goals and has also provided 11 assists.
Karim Benzema was unstoppable in 2022, the year he won the Ballon d’Or. It took him a while to get going this season due to injury setbacks.
The Benzema of 2023 is looking more and more like the Benzema who won the Ballon d’Or. Up until the World Cup, he had scored six goals in 12 games, an average of one goal every 159 minutes. They were stats more typical of the ‘Cristiano era’ than of the goalscorer who has been growing season after season after the departure of the Portuguese.
Benzema has 17 goals in 18 games in 2023 and a goalscoring average of one goal every 89 minutes. He is once again battling with Robert Lewandowski for the Pichichi in La Liga. The Polish striker, who has played 400 minutes more, has 17 goals, while the Frenchman has 14 in the league.
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Names are being linked with Carlo Ancelotti’s job at Real Madrid, but his side’s 4-0 win at Camp Nou in midweek gives the Italian some breathing space for now.
Since returning to the club in the summer of 2021, Ancelotti has won five of the seven titles he has been involved in.
And there are still three trophies up for grabs. At this stage, the league title is unlikely but Madrid are competing for the Copa del Rey and the Champions League.
Ancelotti has been meticulously preparing for the final stretch of the season. To begin with, he used the mental tactic of preparing for the most recent Clásico as a ‘final’.
The Italian himself revealed it in a video published by the Spanish club after the game. With the squad around him in the dressing room, Ancelotti said: “I told a lie, it wasn’t the final... The final has to be played!”.
Villarreal preview
Villarreal visit the Santiago Bernabéu with a place in next year's Champions League in sight.
Quique Setién's side are sitting in 6th place with 44 points and are unbeaten in five league games, with four wins and a draw.
Last time out, the Yellow Submarine recorded a 2-0 win over fellow Champions League chasers Real Sociedad.
Madrid feeling confident
Real Madrid go into matchday 28 in LaLiga in a confident mood and are aiming to close the gap with leaders Barcelona.
Carlo Ancelotti's side are 12 points adrift, but they are hopeful that the Blaugrana can still lose ground, especially after eliminating them in the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey.
Madrid are coming off the back of a 4-0 win at Camp Nou in midweek, which saw them book a place in this year's Copa del Rey final.
On Wednesday, Los Blancos face Chelsea in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final.
LaLiga results
Two games have finished today.
FT: Osasuna 2-1 Elche
FT: Espanyol 1-2 Athletic Club
Real Madrid XI
Carlo Ancelotti has selected the following side after his team beat Barcelona 4-0 at Camp Nou in midweek.
With Chelsea coming up in the Champions League, Kroos, Modric, Camavinga and Valverde all start on the bench.
Real Madrid vs Villarreal: welcome!
Hello and welcome to AS USA's live coverage of this LaLiga matchday 28 fixture between Real Madrid and Villarreal.