Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior were on target as Real Madrid edged Alaves 2-1 on Tuesday, keeping alive their faint hopes of catching Barcelona in the La Liga title race.
Mbappe broke the deadlock at the Santiago Bernabeu with his league-leading 24th goal of the season—his first since early February—thanks to a deflected strike in the 30th minute. Vinicius doubled Madrid’s lead early in the second half with a powerful long-range effort, a goal that proved decisive after Toni Martinez pulled one back for Alaves in stoppage time.
The win snapped Madrid’s two-game winless run in La Liga and closed the gap to leaders Barcelona to six points, with Barca set to host Celta Vigo on Wednesday.
“We have six matches left, the next one coming in three days. Our objective is to win them all—that’s the challenge we’ve set ourselves as a team,” said Madrid coach Alvaro Arbeloa, who is under growing pressure.
“I’m not concerned about what’s at stake for me personally. What matters is what’s at stake for Real Madrid.”
Madrid are facing the prospect of a second straight season without major silverware, after bowing out of the Champions League quarter-finals to Bayern Munich last week. Mbappe scored in both legs of that 6-4 aggregate defeat, but his recent goal drought in La Liga—partly due to a knee injury—has coincided with Barcelona pulling away at the top.
Madrid endured early pressure from relegation-threatened Alaves, who came into the match unbeaten in four. Angel Perez broke clear but opted to pass instead of shoot with only Andriy Lunin to beat, before Toni Martinez forced a save after finding space in the box.
Mbappe opened the scoring with a shot from outside the area that deflected off a defender and wrong-footed Alaves goalkeeper Antonio Sivera. The Frenchman was denied again by Sivera soon after, and Eder Militao struck the crossbar before suffering an injury that forced him off before halftime.
Martinez nearly equalized for Alaves when he hit the post, with Lunin saving the follow-up. Vinicius then fired in from 25 yards to provide Madrid with some breathing room, and Brahim Diaz was only denied a goal by a spectacular goalline clearance.
Alaves continued to create chances, with Victor Parada’s diving header hitting the upright. Martinez eventually pulled one back with an inventive flick in added time, but it was not enough to prevent loud jeers from the Bernabeu crowd at the final whistle.
Elsewhere, Real Betis came from behind to defeat Girona 3-2, with Rodrigo Riquelme netting the winner 10 minutes from time. Gorka Guruzeta’s first-half strike secured Athletic Bilbao a 1-0 home win over Osasuna, while Mallorca and Valencia played out a 1-1 draw.
