Real Madrid's 3-0 victory over Leganés (14th) this Saturday at Butarque on the 14th day of LaLiga puts pressure on a Barcelona that has been struggling in recent matches, by regaining second place, with four points less than the leader Barça and a game in hand.
Goals from Frenchman Kylian Mbappé (42), Uruguayan Federico Valverde (65) and Englishman Jude Bellingham (84) gave a comfortable victory to the Madrid team, who will visit Liverpool on Wednesday in the Champions League.
The 'merengue' team did not waste Barça's draw against Celta (2-2) on Saturday in Balaídos to get closer to the lead and, in the process, to once again leave Atlético in third place, who had also beaten Alavés (2-1) at the Metropolitano.
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Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti has opted from the start for Dani Ceballos, Turkish Arda Güler and youth player Raúl Asencio due to the numerous injuries, but also to give freshness to a squad that will visit Anfield on Wednesday in the Champions League.
Güler was the protagonist of the most dangerous play of the first half after an individual move that almost surprised Serbian goalkeeper Marko Dmitrovic, but he was alert to clear the shot with a great save in the 24th minute.
A glaring mistake by Adrià Altimira in the ball's release led to the visitors' first goal. The full-back lost possession to Bellingham close to his goal and Vinicius took advantage to assist French striker Kylian Mbappé, who was unmarked at the far post and only had to push the ball in at will.
- Mbappé, fresher -
The second half was monotonous, with few scoring chances, which was reassuring for the Madrid players, who never saw the result in danger.
But a powerful free-kick from Valverde and a fortunate rebound from a corner that allowed Bellingham to add the third left the final minutes a mere formality for the visitors.
"I saw a solid, focused team. We changed the position of the forwards a little: Mbappé stuck to the left flank, where he did well, and Vinicius inside," said Ancelotti in a press conference.
Mbappé played on the left at the end and Vinicius, up front. "Playing on the outside is more tiring and Vinicius had returned on Thursday; while Kylian had been training here for a week and a half, he was fresher," said the Madrid coach.
Valverde showed his qualities as a full-back, while Asencio remained serious in his debut and Bellingham seemed to be back to his old self. The changes announced by the coach have begun to bear fruit after the painful defeats against Barcelona (4-0) in the League in October and Milan (3-1) in the Champions League at the beginning of November.
Asencio "has surprised me in the sense that he is very mature; he is always very well positioned. This means that the youth team has done a very good job with him," said Ancelotti.
In the two previous matches of the day, Osasuna (5th) missed out on victory in stoppage time against Villarreal (4th) when they drew 2-2, while Sevilla (12th) beat Rayo Vallecano (13th) thanks to a solitary goal from the Swiss Djibril Sow.
In Pamplona, the home side took the lead through Croatian Ante Budimir (8 and 20, the latter from a penalty) and the visitors equalised with goals from Alex Baena (67) and Gerard Moreno (93) from the penalty spot.
Leganés (Madrid), Nov 24 (EFE).- Real Madrid striker Kylian Mbappé played his first game as a left winger for the Whites in the 3-0 win over Leganés on Sunday, in which he scored the first goal of the match, a change of position that he says is common in his career.
“It was a good game. It started well, I was in rhythm with my teammates in a different position. I can play in all positions, today was different and next time I might play in a different one again. I am ready. It is the story of my career, I play on the right, the left, the centre, it doesn’t matter to me. I want to play well, help the team and score a lot of goals,” he said on Realmadrid TV.
Mbappé said that having trained in Madrid during the international break, having not been called up by France for the second consecutive time, had been good for him in terms of being in good shape.
“It's been great for me to train with the boys, from Castilla too. I didn't know many of them and they have a lot of quality. I'm physically fit and ready to help the team,” he said.
He also highlighted the importance of his team's victory against Leganés after Barcelona's draw against Celta de Vigo (2-2).
“We came here to win. We know how important the match is. We had to win after Barcelona's draw. We started well, with good rhythm, having the ball, playing well… The first goal was very important,” he said.
Mbappé also praised Fede Valverde, who for the first time acted as captain of Real Madrid from the start of the match.
"He's a very important player. When we talk about players we talk about others that we see a little more, but Fede is very important. People don't talk about him much, but he's very important for us. He's won many titles here and I hope he continues to do so," said Mbappé.
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