Real Madrid are no longer in control of finishing second in LaLiga after a 1-0 defeat to relegation-threatened Valencia on Sunday evening.
LaLiga
Result: Valencia 1-0 Real Madrid
Date: 21 May 2023
Venue: Mestalla
Following a crushing defeat against Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League, Los Blancos made six changes as Lucas Vazquez, Antonio Rudiger and Ferland Mendy were recalled at the back while Aurelien Tchouameni, Dani Ceballos and Marco Asensio, who joined Karim Benzema and Vinicius Junior upfront, were also brought in.
Valencia were up for the challenge in the early stages, as they were physical with their challenges and made life difficult for the likes of Vinicius Junior, as Madrid could not progress their play in the last third.
With chances hard to come by, Los Che eventually broke the deadlock on 33 minutes after Diego Lopez finished off a cross by Justin Kluivert with a sweeping shot unchallenged at the back post.
Carlo Ancelotti's charges picked themselves up and launched promising attacks but they were nearly punished on another transition on the stroke of half-time as goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois made a brilliant diving save to push away a low strike by Javier Guerra.
Ancelotti made his intentions clear of getting back to the game as early as possible with an attacking change from the break, as Rodrygo replaced Camavinga.
Los Blancos got a lot of resistance from Valencia early in the second stanza and just after the hour-mark, the Italian mentor needed the experience of Luka Modric and Toni Kroos, who were brought in from the bench.
The visitors had better control going forward as Vinicius Junior came close moments later with a looping strike at the near post that flashed just over the crossbar.
As Madrid continued to pressurize Los Che, Vinicius Junior thought he had gone clear in the box after beating a challenge but a ball was bizarrely thrown from the stands towards the match ball and the referee had to halt the game, as there were two balls in the field.
Vinicius Junior also complained about an apparent abuse from the home fans and there was a brief stoppage that effectively affected Madrid's rhythm.
However, with ten minutes of added time, Madrid kept on coming and shot-stopper Giorgi Mamardashvili was the hero for Valencia, as he pulled off a massive save to deny Federico Valverde and leaped high to parry a goal-bound free-kick by Kroos.
The game got out of hand in the tail end as Vinicius Junior got a second yellow card and was red-carded following a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) review for his part in a scuffle with Valencia players.
Madrid dropped down to third on the table, one point behind second-placed Atletico Madrid while Valencia moved five points clear of relegation, with three games to go.
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