Real Madrid keep LaLiga hopes alive with last-gasp Mbappé goal

 After it all, one thing remained. After the chances created, the sweat that had fallen, the whistles whistled, the groans of frustration sent firing into the sky, and a late penalty to win the game, the conclusion that ‘Real Madrid just aren’t very good’ was all that was left.  

Playing at the Bernabéu is hell on Earth for any team: sitting back in two banks of four, constantly under pressure, defending onslaught after onslaught, trying to stay in shape, and being ready on the counter-attack, is a gargantuan feat of concentration and organisation . And it’s not something Real Madrid should be doing at their own home.

The whistles, you’d think, would remind them of that.

Again, Los Blancos huffed and puffed when it came to putting the small, round ball into the big, white goal. Mbappé hit the post, as did Camavinga, but Real Madrid never looked like taking absolute control of taking the game against the team yet to win a major trophy in their history (one second division title). Again: at the Bernabéu, against a side just a point from relegation.

Large swathes of the second half saw Real Madrid arrive on the edge of the Rayo Vallecano box, and larger swathes saw the ball either cleared, returned, or put wide. With every failed attempt that Batalla watched come and leave, the groans from the stand grew louder; sighs became shouts which became screams. Sometimes they tipped over into pushes and explosions of frustration, all from the white shirts (OK, not Pathé Ciss’ terrible challenge on Ceballos, which saw him sent off) who couldn’t keep it held in.

The game had started well: Vini Jr squirmed and morphed into an inter-dimensional traveller and he split his atoms apart, burst through an otherwise indivisible gap between two defenders, popped back into existence, and whipped the ball into the top corner of the goal.

But the frustration soon returned, and the tone of the screams Vinicius initiated with his sublime showing of talent dropped as Jorge de Frutos copied his opponent and dove into the box with the ball glued to his feet before striking past Courtois.

All square on the scoreboard and although a late penalty saw them take the three points thanks to a clumsy challenge from young defender Mendy, which Mbappé duly dispatched, the conclusion about this Real Madrid team as a whole remained the same: they’re just not very good. The LaLiga race remains alive, but the pressure is on them to turn things up before it gets too late.