http://gty.im/472766050
Real Madrid faced Valencia on Saturday afternoon. Real Madrid came into this match needing three points to stay two points behind the Catalan team. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to collect the three points as the game ended on a 2-2 tie. Real had lost to Juventus in the UEFA Champions League semi-final 2-1 in the first leg in Turin and hoped to turn things around in La Liga and get some hopes of winning the second leg coming Wednesday night.
Luka Modric and Karim Benzema are still out due to injuries. Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez received a chance to start once again for Real Madrid. Fabio Coentrao also got a start along with Isco as Carlo Ancelotti did not give much of his key players rest. Alvaro Arbeloa also got playing time as Dani Carvajal was seen on the bench. Toni Kroos was replaced in the 25th minute by Asier Illaramendi due to an injury and would not be good for Real Madrid as he is a key player for Ancelotti’s starting XI.
The first half started out strong for both teams with Valencia starting a scare for Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas. Dani Parejo had a chance to get his team on the sheet but as he went against Casillas, it deflected off his glove and kept the game even at 0-0 early in the first minute. Gareth Bale had a chance to put his team up in the 13th min with a free-kick but the ball hit the crossbar as he curled it towards Diego Alves’s goal. Bale had another chance in the 16th min as a header from Cristiano Ronaldo came towards him and as he went for goal, the ball once again hit the crossbar and kept the game at nil-nil.
Two minutes later, as Bale’s ball hit the crossbar, Ronaldo also saw the ball hit the post. On a corner play that was crossed in by Toni Kroos, Ronaldo jumped high for the ball and as he headed it towards goal, he was ready to celebrate but the ball hit the post and still kept the game at 0-0.
The first goal came in the 19th min as Paco Alcacer got his team in the scoreboard. Luis Gaya crossed it inside the box and Pepe and Alcacer both went for the ball. Alcacer beat Pepe to it first and kissed the ball with the tip of his shoe and got a little bit of help from Casillas’s gloves to make it a 1-0 game.
In the 25th min, Javi Fuego made it 2-0 for Valencia. Valencia was giving a free kick as Dani Parejo took it and crossed inside the box. Javi Fuego beat the central defenders to the ball first and headed it in and past Iker Casillas to give his team a much needed lead against Real Madrid.
Bale had another chance in the 31st min as he hit a superb strike towards Alves but the goal was denied as a superb strike was stopped by a superb save. This kept Valencia up 2-0. In the 39th min, it seemed like the post was not Real Madrid’s friend as Chicharito had a chance to get his team on the scoreboard but hit the bottom left of the goal post to keep it 2-0. It was not until the 46th min that we saw Real Madrid get a chance to get on the scoreboard. Chicharito went down inside the box and was awarded a penalty. Cristiano Ronaldo stepped up to take the penalty kick and as he tried to trick Diego Alves, Alves got it right and denied Real Madrid from getting on the scoreboard.
It took till the 55th min for Real Madrid to get on the scoreboard. James Rodriguez crossed the ball inside the box on a corner kick and Pepe was there as he jumped over Valencia players and headed the ball past Diego Alves to make it a 2-1 game.
Isco made it 2-2 in the 83′ min as he juked Andre Gomes outside the box and between two defenders kicked the ball towards goal and saw it go past Diego Alves to keep their hopes alive in La Liga title.
Many chances were created by both teams in the last minutes of the game. Dani Parejo had a chance to make it 3-2 when he went one on one against Casillas but the goal was blocked and kept the game tied. Real Madrid kept pressuring Valencia throughout stoppage time but could not get anything going as the game ended 2-2.
Real Madrid dropped two points along with Valencia and still hope that Barcelona can mess up. Real Madrid will face Juventus coming Wednesday night for the Champions League and then face Espanyol on Sunday afternoon. Valencia will face Celta de Vigo on Sunday as well and hope to stay in the spot for Champions League next season.
The man of the match goes out to Isco for creating a beautiful goal to equalize the match and get his team a point on La Liga table.
