Jude Bellingham, who found his finest form towards the end of the season, scored the first goal and assisted in Madrid’s following three goals, two of which were scored by Vinicius Junior.
Tuesday’s 5-0 demolition of Alaves by reigning Spanish champions Real Madrid was sparked by Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Junior. Carlo Ancelotti’s team thoroughly destroyed their Basque opponents at the Santiago Bernabeu as they continued to warm up for the Champions League final. Bellingham found his greatest form towards the conclusion of the season, scoring the first goal and contributing to Madrid’s next three goals, two of which were scored by Vinicius.
The cherry on top for Madrid came late in the game from Turkish youngster Arda Guler, who placed them 17 points ahead of Barcelona in second place.
After his team’s 30th straight league game without a loss, Ancelotti told reporters, “We’ve had just one defeat in the league and I think that a big part of the success is because of (the defense).”
Madrid celebrated their victory on Sunday with an open-top bus procession, but nobody is letting their guard down because the Wembley final is just over two weeks away.
Not least of all is Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who in the first minutes produced a superb double save against Samu Omorodion.
Courtois, who has three clean sheets in three games since his comeback, is aiming to start in the Champions League final after missing the most of the season due to a serious knee injury.
The goalie declared, “I knew I’d come back strong — I’m the same Courtois, or even better.”
After resting them over the weekend, Ancelotti started with almost all of his first-choice lineup, and Madrid’s regular suspect opened the score. Bellingham scored his 19th league goal—possibly his luckiest—in the match.
The ball sunk straight into the net despite the England international’s best efforts to send Toni Kroos’ cross towards the far post, where Dani Carvajal was sprinting in.
Artem Dovbyk of Girona, the league’s leading scorer, leads Bellingham by one goal.
Bellingham threaded a ball through for Eduardo Camavinga, and Madrid increased their advantage.
When some could have opted to shoot, the French midfielder ran forward into the box and selflessly squared for Vinicius to tap in.
The great Romanian playmaker Gheorghe Hagi’s son, Ianis Hagi, an Alaves midfielder, scorched Courtois’ hands with a hard drive at the opposite end.
The visitors have had a successful season and are comfortably nestled in the middle of the league, spared the strain of a relegation struggle.
But Madrid easily defeated them, and Fede Valverde scored the third goal in stoppage time of the first half after Bellingham had passed him in.
Due to his deeper role, the Uruguayan midfielder has scored considerably less goals in the league this season—just two at the near post—than he did seven previous year.
Five-star Madrid
In the second half, Courtois continued to argue his case to Ancelotti by turning away goals from Omorodion and Hagi. In all, he made nine saves.
After Bellingham played him in, Vinicius scored his second goal of the game with a brilliant finish to increase Madrid’s advantage.
“This is my best,” Vinicius declared. “Now we’ve got time to train and that lets us stay calm, do good work and arrive better than ever at Wembley.”
After Vinicius set him up, Rodrygo had a chance to add the fifth, but goalkeeper Jesus Owono stopped him from close range. As a result, Guler scored after a deflected shot found its way into the area.
“It’s a torment every time a small team comes here,” coach Luis Garcia Plaza of Alaves said.
Despite appearing to be minor physical problems, Eder Militao and Carvajal left the game early.
After the match, Militao declared, “What happened with the knee is nothing,” and Ancelotti affirmed the Spanish defender was OK as well.
High-flying Girona, third, lost 1-0 at home to Villarreal in another match; a victory at Almeria on Thursday would put Barcelona four points clear.
15th-place Mallorca salvaged a 1-1 draw against Osasuna to gain another point in their struggle to stay alive. Seven points separate the runners-up in the Copa del Rey from the relegation zone.
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