Valencia 0-3 Real Madrid: Los Blancos win eighth game in a row with comfortable victory at the Mestalla

Real Madrid ran out comfortable winners over Valencia at the Mestalla, with goals from Federico Valverde, Arda Güler and Kylian Mbappé giving Los Blancos a 3-0 victory.

Federico Valverde gave Madrid the lead after Kylian Mbappé’s initial free-kick was blocked before the Uruguayan fired home from outside the box. Arda Güler doubled the lead for the visitors with a volley from close range as Real went into the break in cruise control.

After passing up second half opportunities, Mbappé did manage to get on the scoresheet as he ran onto Güler’s perfect pass before rounding the goalkeeper and scoring his 17th of the season. José Gayà was sent off late on as Real Madrid win eight games in a row for the first time since 2022.

As it happened

Real Madrid had complete control of the game in the early stages, with 86% of the possession after nine minutes, but had failed to create anything of note.

With the game entering its ninth minute, everyone in the stadium came together to pay tribute to Jesús de Miguel, the CD Tenerife player who sadly lost his life last weekend, with a minute’s applause.

The home side started to grow into the game and came close to opening the scoring on a couple of occasions. First, Aaron Mayol capitalised on a mistake from Aurélien Tchouaméni, but his effort was saved well by Thibaut Courtois. From the resulting corner, Guido Rodríguez put the ball in the net, but was inches offside as Real Madrid survived the scare.

Pablo Maffeo, who had committed a number of early fouls, brought Kylian Mbappé down on the edge of the box as the Frenchman was bearing down on goal, but only received a yellow card for the offence. From the resulting free kick, Mbappé fired into the wall, but the rebound fell to Federico Valverde, who drilled a powerful effort into the bottom corner to give the visitors the lead.

And it wasn’t long before Arda Güler doubled the lead. Jude Bellingham did well down the left to pull the ball back towards Güler, with a deflection sending the ball up nicely to the Turkish midfielder, who calmly volleyed home as Real raced into a 2-0 lead at the Mestalla.

The away side continued to push forward in search of a third, with Güler’s strike well saved before Yan Diomande fired over from just inside the box, as Madrid went in at the break with a two-goal lead.

As the second half began, the game continued to follow a familiar pattern of one-way Real Madrid traffic towards the Valencia goal. There were chances for all of Güler, Bellingham and a couple for Mbappé, but none were able to convert as the home side survived further punishment.

But the Frenchman was not going to be denied anymore. Courtois sent a long ball over the top which Güler ran onto, before he played a brilliant pass through to Mbappé who took the ball around the goalkeeper before tapping home into the empty net, making it seven consecutive games in which he has scored.

José Gayà was sent off after a dangerous tackle on Mbappé as Valencia found themselves three- goals down and down to ten men.

Real Madrid ran out comfortable 3-0 winners at the Mestalla, securing their eighth consecutive victory, a run they have not achieved since 2022. José Mourinho’s side now sit level on points with Barcelona at the top of LaLiga, ahead of their rivals’ trip to face Atlético Madrid tomorrow night.