Real Madrid continued their winning run with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Valencia at Mestalla on Sunday, moving level on points with La Liga leaders Barcelona.
Federico Valverde, Arda Guler and Kylian Mbappe scored as Jose Mourinho’s side recorded their eighth straight victory across all competitions.
The win increased the pressure on defending champions Barcelona, who face third-placed Atletico Madrid on Sunday.
Madrid entered the match without Vinicius Junior, who was serving the final match of his four-game suspension. However, his absence did little to slow down the visitors.
Valencia thought they had taken the lead when Guido Rodriguez found the net, but the referee ruled out the goal for offside.
Madrid soon took control. Valverde opened the scoring with a powerful strike from outside the penalty area after Mbappe’s free kick hit the Valencia wall and fell into his path.
Guler doubled the advantage shortly afterwards. Jude Bellingham sent a cross into the box, and a deflection helped the Turkish midfielder find space to finish.
Madrid continued to create chances, but Valencia goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski made several saves to deny Guler, Mbappe and Bellingham.
Mbappe eventually added the third goal in the second half. Guler played a dangerous pass into his path, and the French forward raced past Dimitrievski before finding the net.
It was Mbappe’s 13th league goal of the season and his 17th in 16 matches across all competitions. He has now scored in seven consecutive appearances for Madrid.
Valencia’s problems grew worse when captain Jose Gaya received a red card with around 10 minutes remaining. The defender made a late sliding challenge on Mbappe, leaving the hosts with 10 players.
The defeat left Valencia in 19th place, one point away from safety.
“We knew it would be a tough game, facing Madrid at their best moment of the season,” Gaya told DAZN.
“We tried in the second half, changed our system… but we couldn’t get into the game.”
Mourinho praised his team’s consistency after another convincing performance.
“From my experience, this team smells good,” the Madrid coach told reporters.
He also said his players had remained calm since their defeat against Atletico Madrid on September 20.
“We never had chaos, we’ve been calm, we understand why we lost that game,” Mourinho said.
The match also carried an emotional moment as Spanish football paid tribute to Tenerife striker Jesus de Miguel, who died on Tuesday following a collision with Andorra’s goalkeeper during a second division match.
Players observed a minute of silence before kick off, while matches across Spain paused in the ninth minute for applause in memory of the striker, who wore the number nine shirt.
De Miguel’s funeral took place on Thursday, with around 400 people attending, including Spain coach Luis de la Fuente and Real Madrid president Florentino Perez.
Elsewhere in La Liga, Espanyol drew 0-0 with Deportivo La Coruna, Osasuna held Athletic Bilbao to a 1-1 draw, and Racing Santander beat Malaga 2-1.
