While the Blues were beaten 1-0 at Wolverhampton, Real opened the scoring in the 16th with a goal against their side Pau Torres. Then Villarreal equalized in the 39th thanks to an individual jewel of Chukwueze, and despite the goal of Vinicius after the break (48th), the "Yellow Submarine" still managed to come back thanks to a goal of José Luis Morales (70th) validated by the VAR, before going back in front thanks to another magnificent goal of Chukwueze (80th), with a brushed strike.

The "White House" regained hope in the 82nd, when the referee whistled a penalty on Eduardo Camavinga for a hand of Aissa Mandi in the box... which he finally revoked after video viewing, causing grumbling at the Santiago-Bernabéu.

With this setback, Madrid remain 12 points behind FC Barcelona, who host Girona on Monday (21:00).

Chukwueze on fire

Less sparkling than in its two previous successes, on the lawn of Barça Wednesday in the Copa del Rey (4-0) and against Valladolid a week ago (6-0), Real, greeted by chants "Ia, ia, ia, nos vamos a Sevilla!" ("We're going to Seville" in Spanish, in reference to the place of the Copa del Rey final, Editor's note), was jostled throughout the match.

Ancelotti had decided to make five changes from the clasico on Wednesday, with the starters of Tchouaméni, Ceballos, Nacho, Lucas Vazquez and Rüdiger, but this reshuffled team suffered greatly from its defensive largesse against a Villarreal yet also deprived of many frames (Capoue, Coquelin, Albiol, Gerard Moreno and Nicolas Jackson).

Samu Chukwueze took the opportunity to make Nacho dance in the box and adjust Thibaut Courtois from the left on his first goal, before deceiving the Belgian goalkeeper again with a superb curled strike late in the game.

Real Madrid's Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois loses during the Spanish league match against Villarreal (2-3), on April 8, 2023 at the Santiago-Bernabéu © Pierre-Philippe MARCOU / AFP

On fire in recent weeks, Villarreal's Nigerian has five goals and three assists in his last seven La Liga games. "I think even some Real fans must have celebrated his goals," Setién said with a smile at the post-match press conference.

A deserved success for Quique Setién's men, who have not lost for nearly two months in the league (a draw and five wins since their defeat on February 18 in Mallorca, 4-2).

Opposite, Real could not count on such a sparkling Benzema: after slamming two hat-tricks in two games, the Frenchman remained silent on Saturday, replaced on the hour of play by Fede Valverde.

The Williams' replica

Earlier in the day, Osasuna, who will face Real in the Copa del Rey final on May 6, managed to overcome a small deficit to beat the red lantern Elche 2-1, and thus stay in the race for European places.

But the Navarrese club ended the match with bad news: Serbian midfielder Darko Brasanac came out in the 38th minute, ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

Athletic Bilbao also won 2-1 against Espanyol Barcelona, who remain entangled in the red zone.

Ernesto Valverde's men won thanks to goals from brothers Inaki and Nico Williams, in response to criticism received after elimination in the Copa del Rey.

In the early evening, Real Sociedad dominated Getafe thanks to a goal from captain Mikel Oyarzabal (45th+2), three minutes after missing a penalty, and another goal by Takefusa Kubo (60th). The Basques, 4th, return to three points of Atlético Madrid, who travel to its neighbor, Rayo Vallecano, Sunday (21:00).

© 2023 AFP