La Liga – long held in check by the Athletic Club, Real relys on a missile from Federico Valverde in additional time (1-0)

A small miracle signed Federico Valverde. While Real Madrid was heading for a draw as much as frustrating in front of the Athletic Bilbao, the Uruguayan released a sublime recovery of its hat to offer a precious victory to its team, in additional time (1-0). The Merengue, deprived of Kylian Mbappé in this match against the 4th of Liga and who woke up in the second period, come back four points from FC Barcelona to continue to believe in the title.

We wondered for a long time if we were actually attending a match between two teams in the running for a place on the podium of the Spanish championship. The absences of Nico Williams for some, and Kylian Mbappé for others, cannot explain the indigent spectacle of the first period. It will be summed up in a single meaningful statistics: the first shot on a framework took place in the 36th minute, in this case a soft head -on head by Federico Valverde, already him. The thrill came only from a beautiful strike from Vinicius (28th), while the two clubs were very rough.

Fortunately, Real Madrid returned from the locker room with a much more conquering state of mind and, it seems, some more ideas. Quite transparent before the break, Rodrygo and Jude Bellingham began to be much more to their advantage to help Vinicius find differences. This rise in power of the Merengue pushed Unai Simon to make some beautiful parades (49th, 61st, 69th, 90th+1), in particular this incredible gesture on a head of Bellingham, after a center from the outside of the foot signed Vinicius.

The match could have changed when Vinicius thought he was opening the scoring in a closed angle, after a free kick quickly played by Brahim Diaz. Unfortunately for him, Endrick was offside on this action and the referee, after the intervention of the Var, judged that he had participated (83rd). Nothing smiled at the men of Carlo Ancelotti, despite a much more brilliant face, and faced with an opponent well below his standards. But that was without counting the lightning of Valverde, unhappy on his previous attempts and which succeeded in an incredible sequence to deceive, finally, Simon (1-0, 90th+3). Without his goal, Real found himself six points from FC Barcelona in the standings. Or a chasm at this time of the season.