Real Madrid secured a 2-1 victory over Alaves at the Santiago Bernabeu, reducing Barcelona's lead at the top of LaLiga to six points. Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior scored for the hosts, with Toni Martinez netting a late consolation for the visitors. The win ends Madrid's four-match winless streak across all competitions.
Real Madrid hosted Alaves on Tuesday evening, kickoff at 20:30 BST, with the second-placed side trailing Barcelona by nine points and winless in their previous four matches. Aurelien Tchouameni, Dean Huijsen and Alvaro Carreras started for Madrid, who lined up with Andriy Lunin in goal, alongside Trent Alexander-Arnold, Eder Militao, Arda Guler, Federico Valverde, Jude Bellingham, Mbappe and Vinicius Junior. Alaves, sitting just one point above the relegation zone after three draws in four unbeaten games, fielded Antonio Sivera in goal with Angel Propios, Javi Otto, Nahuel Tenaglia, Victor Parada, Youssef, Antonio Blanco, Jon Guridi, Denis Suarez, Martinez and Lucas Boye up front. Madrid struck first on the half-hour mark when Mbappe's strike deflected beyond Sivera after good work from Guler. Eder Militao hit the crossbar from a Jude Bellingham cross before suffering an injury that forced him off. Alaves' Martinez struck the post and was denied by Lunin before halftime, while Sivera saved a Tchouameni header from a Guler corner, with Bellingham heading over on the follow-up. In the second half, Vinicius Junior sealed the points with an unstoppable low long-range effort, his 12th LaLiga goal of the season. Brahim Diaz later saw a curling shot headed off the line, and Parada hit the post for Alaves. Martinez pulled one back in the final minute of stoppage time, flicking Ander Guevara's low shot past Lunin, but time ran out for the visitors, who remain in a tight relegation battle.
