Sunday, at the top of this 16th day of the Spanish championship, Barcelona will therefore have the opportunity to widen a gap if they manage to win on the lawn of Atletico Madrid (9:00 p.m.).
A huge recovery error from Ferland Mendy, and a hand from David Alaba in the area offered two goals to Yeremi Pino (47th) and Gerard Moreno (63rd from the penalty spot), synonymous with Real's second defeat of the season in the league.
Faced with a little hesitant Real at the start of the match, the "yellow submarine" played without complexes, threatening Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois from the start, with in particular a brilliant deviation of the heel in pivot from Francis Coquelin on the post from the start. the 5th.
But Modric and his companions quickly restored the balance: Benzema did not frame a powerful cross shot (14th), Militao (20th) and Vinicius (40th) also had chances.
The two teams, however, returned to the locker room with a clean score.
The match was high intensity, only missing goals.
Two penalties
The first came in the 47th minute.
Mendy made a bad full-axis pass, and Villarreal played the shot at 100 an hour.
Dani Parejo alerted Yeremi Pino in the area, whose shot was hit in vain by Courtois (1-0).
Two penalties were then whistled in quick succession.
The first for Real, after a hand claimed by the people of Madrid and confirmed by the video.
Benzema celebrated his 8th goal of the season in the league (1-1, 60th).
His joy was short-lived, as Alaba slid into his box two minutes later, touching the ball with his hand.
Gerard Moreno converted the winning penalty for Villarreal (2-1, 63rd).
Real, where Ancelotti replaced four players, including his two midfielders Tchouaméni and Modric, gave everything to come back to score, but Villarreal in front of their public did not give up, and even threatened Courtois until the last minute of the match. an extremely spectacular game.
© 2023 AFP