Early morning of September 25 (Vietnam time), Real Madrid hosted Alaves in round 7 of La Liga 2024-2025 with predictions of another victory. In fact, they did it, but in a different way than imagined.
While many fans in the Bernabau stadium were still sitting in their seats, the home team scored a goal. Vinicius Junior received a long ball from Federico Valverde, passed the right-wing defender of the away team, entered the penalty area and passed back to Lucas Vazquez to score.
Vazquez - captaining his 250th La Liga appearance - scored the fastest La Liga goal of the season in coach Carlo Ancelotti's 300th game.
This is also Real Madrid's fastest goal since Vazquez himself scored in the 49th second of the match against Real Sociedad in February 2018.
The Italian tactician has fielded a very strong squad, despite Los Blancos having a derby against Atletico Madrid next Sunday. He may not want to think too far ahead and focus on one game at a time, and therefore, he needs his stars to be in good form before the important match.
The veteran strategist's goal was achieved, because Vinicius, Kylian Mbappe, Rodrygo Goes and support from Jude Bellingham, Valverde created an overwhelming game, with 72% ball possession.
Mbappe got the ball into the visitors' net in the 22nd minute after a good combination between Bellingham and Vinicius, but the French striker was offside. However, in the 40th minute, the "Ninja Turtle" also had a goal for himself after another combination with Bellingham, twisting his opponent's side and finishing neatly.
Right at the beginning of the second half, it was Rodrygo's turn to speak up with an attack on the right wing and a tricky shot, defeating goalkeeper Antonio Sivera.
With a 3-goal gap and 3 points within reach, Ancelotti quickly adjusted his personnel, giving key players an early rest and letting young player Endrick have about 20 minutes at the end of the match.
The 18-year-old immediately made his mark when he got past two defenders who tried to hold him back but failed, and shot. Unfortunately, the ball bounced off the goal.
Leading by 3 goals, Real Madrid unexpectedly conceded 2 consecutive goals within 1 minute (85, 86), making the final stage of the match quite worrying.
The 3-2 scoreline remained, Real Madrid extended their unbeaten run in La Liga to 39 games and picked up three more points to temporarily close the gap with Barcelona to one point. However, there are still warnings for the Royal team.
Mbappe's goal in four consecutive matches is clearly good news as well as the best preparation for the derby and confirms an effective addition. But perhaps many people have the feeling that, to successfully defend the La Liga and Champions League titles, Los Blancos will have to rely heavily on their defense.
Thibaut Courtois has made quite a few saves since the start of the season, the post and crossbar have also protected them a few times - or rather, luck has been on their side.
Perhaps, this season, Real Madrid cannot compete with Barcelona in terms of goals in La Liga or Bayern Munich in the Champions League, so in addition to Mbappe and other strikers scoring, Ancelotti needs to improve the defense.
