Vinicius Junior defied boos in UCL win, now Real Madrid’s attention turns to toppling Barcelona for top spot in La Liga.
Who: Villarreal vs Real Madrid
What: Spanish La Liga
Where: Estadio de la Ceramica in Villarreal, Spain
When: Saturday, January 23, at 9pm (20:00 GMT).
How to follow: We’ll have all the build-up on media Sport from 17:00 GMT in advance of our text commentary stream.
Real Madrid will claim top spot in La Liga with a win on Saturday, but standing in their way are a plucky Villarreal that have their own ambitions for a title charge.
Los Blancos parted company with head coach Xabi Alonso on January 12, and suffered the immediate shock of a Copa del Rey exit at the hands of lowly Albacete in their very next game.
Moving above Barcelona, who do not play until they host Real Oviedo on Sunday, would be a serious statement for the Spanish giants, whose season appeared ready to lurch into freefall in recent months.
media Sport takes a look at Saturday’s match, where Villarreal will hope to add their own twist as they continue their plight as the season’s surprise package.
Real Madrid roared back to life this week, led by a superb Vinicius Junior, and will now seek to crush the threat of another title contender at the same time as they head to Spain’s east coast.
An emphatic 6-1 victory over Monaco on Tuesday in the Champions League helped brighten the gloom in the Spanish capital and earn new coach Alvaro Arbeloa a modicum of credit. Automatic qualification for the last 16 will be secured with a win in their final league phase match at Benfica on Wednesday.
The midweek match was the first glimpse of what his team might look like, after the Copa del Rey last 16 defeat against Albacete in his first match at the helm was the performance of a club deep in the doldrums.
Arbeloa’s second match, a win over Levante in La Liga last weekend, was marked by a monumental show of dissent from home fans, the shadow of which the team struggled to emerge from.
However, with the fans behind them again against Monaco, Madrid put in their best performance of the season, with Brazilian winger Vinicius offering a sensational display, in particular.
After going 16 games in a row without finding the net, Vinicius has now scored two in his last four matches.
Beyond a delightful solo goal against Monaco, he was a persistent threat and played key parts in three more of his team’s strikes.
The performance silenced the boo boys in the stands and reminded everyone of the talent that was key to Real’s Champions League and La Liga double in 2024.
“I think he’s a player who thrives when he gets love,” said teammate Jude Bellingham. “He goes up leaps and bounds in his game and becomes so much more joyful to watch and to play with.
“I think that’s the pressure that the kind of whistles put on a player. But now it seems like he’s free from those shackles a little bit, and hopefully he can continue.”
United Arab Emirates Dirham Exchange Rate
