Fede Valverde and Vinicius Junior strikes helped Real Madrid bounce back from their first defeat since January with a 2-0 win over Villarreal on Saturday in La Liga. Los Blancos lost in the Champions League at Lille but are still unbeaten in the Spanish top flight and moved level with leaders Barcelona, before the Catalans visit Alaves on Sunday. Valverde’s deflected effort and a rocket from Vinicius allowed Madrid to put a four-point gap between them and their third-placed opponents, who battled well but came up fractionally short in the capital.

Madrid’s victory was marred by a late injury to defender Dani Carvajal, who had to be taken off on a stretcher.

“It seems a serious knee injury, it will be looked at in the coming hours,” Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti told reporters.

“The players are sad, worried, because something happened that happens a lot, because of the (busy) calendar, and it happened to a very, very important player for us.”

Ancelotti said Vinicius would also have medical tests after being taken off late on with discomfort in his shoulder and neck.

The Italian coach started Kylian Mbappe after the French striker had recovered from a thigh problem.

The former Paris Saint-Germain striker could only appear from the bench in Madrid’s disappointing midweek display.

Mbappe, who France have not selected for upcoming Nations League fixtures, was quiet at the Santiago Bernabeu as his team ground out victory with a determined, rather than inspiring, performance.

Madrid are still missing German midfielder Toni Kroos, although on this occasion he was watching on from a box.

Mbappe sent an early volley off-target from Luka Modric‘s corner but it was midfield powerhouse Valverde who broke the deadlock after 14 minutes.

The Uruguayan’s drive from distance deflected off Villarreal playmaker Alex Baena and arced beyond the reach of goalkeeper Diego Conde.

The visitors, enjoying a strong start to the season under coach Marcelino Garcia Toral, came close when Nicolas Pepe‘s header clipped the top of the crossbar.

Mbappe had one further chance, bursting into the area with his electric pace, but goalkeeper Conde managed to dispossess him with an outstretched leg.

Villarreal appealed for a penalty early in the second half when Aurelien Tchouameni, playing at centre-back, pulled down Barry, but the French striker was offside.

Baena hit the side-netting of Andriy Lunin‘s goal with a free-kick, nearly catching out the Ukrainian goalkeeper standing in for the injured Thibaut Courtois.

Vinicius flashed a shot narrowly wide, before his strike partner Mbappe was replaced with 20 minutes to go by Rodrygo Goes.

Brazil striker Vinicius, who is hoping to win a first Ballon d’Or later in October, netted the second with a superb effort from outside the area, which ripped into the top corner.

Carvajal hurt

In stoppage time, Spanish right-back Carvajal suffered an injury while attempting to clear the ball under pressure from Yeremi Pino.

“In the end, the result’s a less important thing — Dani’s health is what matters,” Valverde told Real Madrid TV.

“The game was fine, it was neither very good or bad, it was what we had to do to win, two goals was enough.”

Villarreal defender Raul Albiol was also concerned about Carvajal.

“It looked bad… let’s hope it’s the least (damage) possible, because we all know how important he is for Real Madrid and Spanish football,” he said.

The centre-back said Madrid were efficient with their finishing and that made the difference.

“They have a lot of attacking punch and more or less with three chances they had two goals,” he said.

Earlier, nine-man Celta Vigo earned a 1-0 win at bottom-of-the-table Las Palmas.

The Canary Islanders were unable to record their first win of the season even after Ilaix Moriba and Iago Aspas‘ red cards for Celta, who climbed to ninth thanks to Borja Iglesias’ goal.

Osasuna moved into fifth with a 1-1 draw at Getafe, while Espanyol beat Mallorca 2-1 and Rayo Vallecano won at Valladolid by the same score.

Vinicius Junior’s decisive impact helped a “much faster” Real Madrid come from behind to beat Espanyol 4-1 on Saturday and move a point behind La Liga leaders Barcelona. After struggling to find their best form this season coach Carlo Ancelotti praised his team’s victory, even though it took its time to crystallise against the determined Catalans. Brazil star Vinicius started on the bench but created a goal for Rodrygo Goes before scoring himself to complete Madrid’s turnaround after a Thibaut Courtois own goal gifted the visitors the lead early in the second half.

Dani Carvajal levelled for Madrid soon afterwards before Vinicius took the reins, with Kylian Mbappe adding a late penalty to net in his fourth consecutive game for the club.

Hansi Flick’s Barcelona, boasting a perfect record of five wins from five matches, visit unbeaten Villarreal, fourth, on Sunday, looking to restore their four-point lead.

“I thought it was a good game, (the players) reacted well after Espanyol’s goal, we played much better, having more chances and I am happy,” Ancelotti told reporters.

Madrid have not been at their most fluent but this was a cut above their recent displays and the Italian was impressed.

“We played much faster, touching the ball quicker up front, with some better movement,” noted Ancelotti.

“Mobility is a very important weapon… bit by bit we’re returning to our best version.”

The comprehensive victory was Madrid’s 38th consecutive La Liga game without defeat, their last loss in the competition coming just under a year ago, against Atletico Madrid in September 2023.

“That says a lot, not losing games in so many weeks is really nice, but we have to continue,” said Madrid captain Luka Modric.

“It’s quality, character, commitment from the team, everyone is ready when called on… those are the key factors.”

Madrid had a stranglehold on the first half without being able to make the breakthrough, with Mbappe heavily involved, hunting for his sixth goal of the season across all competitions.

Espanyol goalkeeper Joan Garcia made a fine save at his near post to thwart the France captain’s effort from a tight angle, among other stops.

Increasingly frustrated, Mbappe was booked for protesting against a decision called against him.

Madrid have been able to score just one first half goal in eight matches this season but on this occasion they were racking up the chances.

Carlos Romero came close for the promoted visitors early in the second period with a strike that flew off-target, but it was mostly one-way traffic in the other direction.

Madrid were therefore stunned when the visitors took the lead in the 54th minute, with Courtois clumsily deflecting Jofre Carreras’ cross into his own net.

Stylish comeback

Ancelotti sent on Vinicius immediately but it was Carvajal who levelled four minutes later, tapping home on the line after Bellingham’s cross squirmed away from the previously flawless Garcia.

Espanyol’s resistance crumbled and Vinicius produced a sublime cross with the outside of his boot to tee up Rodrygo for the second.

Mbappe unselfishly slipped Vinicius through on goal to tuck home the third and the former Paris-Saint Germain star dispatched a late penalty himself to complete a sizeable victory.

It was Mbappe’s fourth La Liga goal of the season, pulling him level with Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski as top scorer.

Endrick won the spot-kick as he exploded into the box and was dragged down by Romero.

Ancelotti said he had to be “unfair” to the 18-year-old Brazil striker, who is yet to start for the club.

“On one hand it’s unfair because he’s training very well, but on the other it’s that we have Rodrygo, Mbappe and Vinicius up front, you have to be a bit patient,” he said.

Elsewhere Valencia earned their first win of the season with a 2-0 victory over Girona, 13th, on Saturday.

The Catalan side have now suffered three consecutive defeats, including a 1-0 loss at PSG in their Champions League debut on Wednesday.

Spain vs Germany, UEFA Euro 2024 Quarterfinal LIVE Updates© AFP

Spain vs Germany Live Streaming Euro 2024 Quarter Final Live Telecast: When And Where To Watch© AFP

Spain made a dream start to Euro 2024 as Alvaro Morata scored in a statement 3-0 victory over Croatia in Berlin on Saturday, with Lamine Yamal becoming the youngest player in the competition’s history. The three-time European champions have often been accused of being toothless in attack during recent major tournaments, but produced an eye-catching display at the Olympiastadion to cut apart a disappointing Croatia. Morata broke the deadlock in the 29th minute with his seventh Euros goal, moving joint-third on the all-time list alongside Alan Shearer and Antoine Griezmann.

Fabian Ruiz added a second shortly afterwards with a wonderful individual strike.

Yamal made his mark with the assist for Dani Carvajal to effectively kill the game as a contest on the stroke of half-time, while Croatia striker Bruno Petkovic missed a late penalty.

This repeat of last year’s Nations League final, won by Spain on penalties after a 0-0 draw, suggests La Roja are capable of contending for a record-breaking fourth European Championship title.

World Cup semi-finalists Croatia, though, have it all to do if they are to reach the knockout phase for a fifth consecutive major tournament, with games against Albania and holders Italy to come in a difficult Group B.

Luka Modric, so often their inspiration, was substituted midway through the second half by coach Zlatko Dalic.

Spain boss Luis de la Fuente named an exciting starting XI, including wingers Nico Williams and Yamal.

The Barcelona starlet, 16 years and 338 days old, beat the previous record for youngest player at a Euros held by Polish international Kacper Kozlowski, who played at Euro 2020 at 17 years and 246 days old.

– Croatia’s subdued start –

Croatia enjoyed the vast majority of support from the stands, with their fans holding up one huge banner during their national anthem, reading “When we get going, heaven and earth will burn”.

But Croatia started slowly, as Spain dominated possession in trademark fashion.

Spain also showed their increasing versatility under De la Fuente with their first goal, as one excellent through ball from inside his own half by Ruiz sent Morata clean through and the captain made no mistake with a cool finish past a stranded Dominik Livakovic.

Ruiz put Spain in total control just three minutes later, jinking past two Croatia defenders inside the box before shooting through the legs of Josip Sutalo and into the bottom corner.

Croatia almost pulled one back immediately as the game started to echo the end-to-end nature of the two teams’ thrilling last-16 clash at Euro 2020, won 5-3 by Spain after extra time.

Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon got down quickly to keep out Marcelo Brozovic’s shot and Lovro Majer could only find the side-netting from the rebound.

Croatia continued to create chances, as Josko Gvardiol‘s cross-cum-shot narrowly avoided both Ante Budimir in the centre and the far post.

But full-back Carvajal, who scored the opening goal in Real Madrid’s Champions League final triumph over Borussia Dortmund earlier this month, put the game to bed in first-half added time.

Yamal collected the ball after a corner was cleared and curled a delicious cross into the middle for Carvajal to stretch and stab home on the volley.

Croatia tried to press forward early in the second period but left spaces for Spain to exploit and Yamal was denied another record for youngest Euros scorer when Livakovic produced a fine save to turn away his low effort.

Marc Cucurella, a controversial selection by De la Fuente at left-back, made a goal-saving block to prevent Josip Stanisic giving Croatia hope.

Substitute Petkovic thought he had pulled one back late on when he tapped in after his penalty was saved by Simon.

But the goal was ruled out by VAR for encroachment by Ivan Perisic as Spain added a clean sheet to an almost perfect outing.