Mbappe's brace at Villarreal puts 'exhausted' Madrid back on top

VILAREAL, Spain — Kylian Mbappe's brace helped Real Madrid climb to the top of La Liga with a 2-1 win at Villarreal on Saturday, despite coach Carlo Ancelotti's complaints that his team was "exhausted".

Los Blancos moved three points clear of rival Barcelona, having played two extra games, with the Catalans visiting third-placed Atletico Madrid on Sunday in a key clash in the Spanish title race.

Madrid was unhappy the game was taking place fewer than 72 hours after its Champions League win on penalties against Atletico on Wednesday.

"The team has something special; character, commitment," Ancelotti told reporters, insisting Madrid would refuse to play without "72 hours of rest" between matches, as recommended by world soccer governing body FIFA.

"We will never play another game (without) 72 hours of rest.

"We asked La Liga twice to change the time of the game, and they did not do anything. This is the last time."

However, despite its complaint, it had enough in the tank to beat its fifth-placed opponent at the Estadio de la Ceramica.

"We kept going on a physical level, above all in the second half, the team ended up exhausted, but that was to be expected," said Ancelotti.

"It's a win that says a lot about this team and the ability this squad has."

Ancelotti began with Vinicius Junior on the bench after the draining Champions League victory against Atletico in the week.

Villarreal started strongly, and Thibaut Courtois got down well to his right to tip a shot from Ayoze Perez around the post.

From the resulting corner, Villarreal took the lead, with the ball rebounding to Juan Foyth, who smashed home from close range.

Ancelotti's side, though, hit back quickly, with Mbappe leveling after 17 minutes.

Brahim Diaz's attempted lob was saved by Diego Conde, but the French striker dispatched the rebound with minimal fuss.

Soon, Mbappe had his second, helping to spread the ball to the right and then finishing with aplomb after Lucas Vazquez found him in the middle of the box.

It was Mbappe's 20th league goal of the season, putting him one behind the Golden Boot leader, Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski.

Content with its lead, Madrid soaked up the pressure from Villarreal for the rest of the first half, with Courtois putting in another good save against Nicolas Pepe.

Villarreal coach Marcelino Garcia Toral sent on Thierno Barry for Pepe at the break, as his side looked to avoid a first home defeat in La Liga by Madrid since 2017.

Foyth almost leveled things up early in the second half, but volleyed over the bar.

'Lack of respect'

Ancelotti sent on Vinicius and Luka Modric to try and help Madrid put the game to bed, and it wrested back some control from the enterprising host.

Conde saved one from Fede Valverde, and, at the other end, Perez came close with a sharp turn and powerful effort that flew just over Courtois' crossbar. That was as close as his side came to a leveler.

"The start wasn't the best, but that's normal with little rest as it's hard on the legs, but then we came back quickly, we defended well. We were very tired, but the commitment we showed was important," Courtois told Real Madrid TV.

"We don't want to look for excuses, I'm happy to say we did not lose or draw because of the tiredness, but it's not normal playing (at this time) today.

"I know La Liga don't like to put (the three biggest teams) on the same day, but sometimes it's what you have to do... it was a lack of respect to the team and to our players, because we could have left here with someone injured," he added.

Afterward, Ancelotti and his side were able to sit back and watch the two teams below them duke it out at the Metropolitano stadium.

"For us, it was important to win today, obviously I will watch it, because it will be a very entertaining game," said Ancelotti.

"Sunday, I will be a football fan, and nothing more."

AFP