Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior were on the scoresheet as Real Madrid secured a hard-fought 2–1 victory over Alavés at the Santiago Bernabéu on Tuesday night, keeping their slim La Liga title hopes alive.
Mbappé opened the scoring on the half-hour mark with a deflected strike for his 24th league goal of the season — his first in La Liga since early February. Vinícius Júnior doubled the lead early in the second half, smashing in a powerful effort from distance to give Madrid control of the game.
Alavés, however, refused to back down. The visitors pushed until the end and were rewarded in stoppage time when Toni Martínez pulled one back with a clever finish, but it was too little too late.
The win ended a two-game winless run in the league for Real Madrid and reduced the gap at the top to six points behind Barcelona, who play Celta Vigo on Wednesday.
Madrid coach Álvaro Arbeloa, whose future remains under scrutiny, insisted his focus was purely on results rather than speculation about his job.
“We have six games left. The aim is to win them all — that is our only focus,” he said. “What matters is Real Madrid, not me personally.”
Real Madrid’s season has been a difficult one by their standards, with Champions League elimination at the hands of Bayern Munich adding pressure on the squad. Despite Mbappé scoring across both legs of that tie, his recent dry spell in La Liga had coincided with Barcelona pulling clear at the top.
The match itself was not straightforward for Madrid. Alavés started brightly and created early chances, with Ángel Pérez missing a clear opportunity after opting to pass instead of shoot. Toni Martínez also tested goalkeeper Andriy Lunin on several occasions.
Madrid eventually took control through Mbappé’s opener, which came after his shot from distance took a decisive deflection. Vinícius then gave the hosts breathing space with his long-range effort, while Brahim Díaz came close to extending the lead but was denied on the line.
Alavés continued to threaten late on and struck the woodwork twice before Martínez finally found the net in stoppage time, setting up a tense finish.
Elsewhere in La Liga, Real Betis earned a 3–2 comeback win over Girona, Athletic Bilbao defeated Osasuna 1–0, and Mallorca shared a 1–1 draw with Valencia.
