Last Updated on April 22, 2026 12:56 pm by ZUWP Automation
Real Madrid 2-1 Deportivo Alavés: A vital Matchweek 33 win, but a nervy finish at the Bernabéu
Real Madrid had lost three of their previous four La Liga matches before Tuesday night. Álvaro Arbeloa Coca’s side needed a response at the Bernabéu, and for an hour they delivered one. Then Alavés made them work until the final whistle, a late Toni Martínez goal ensuring there was nothing comfortable about a 2-1 victory that Madrid desperately required.
The Opening Hour: Madrid in Control
There was an edge to the Bernabéu from the outset, the weight of three defeats in four sitting heavily over a ground that expects more. Madrid answered with purpose. On the half-hour, Kylian Mbappé Lottin broke the deadlock, converting a right-foot shot assisted by Arda Güler to make it 1-0. It was the kind of finish Madrid had been missing: direct, decisive, clinical.
Five minutes later, a yellow card for a foul gave the match its first moment of friction, but Madrid’s concentration held. At the break, they led 2-0 on the half-time scoreline — Vinicius Junior having added a second just five minutes into the second half, finishing from Federico Santiago Valverde Dipetta’s assist to double the advantage at the 50-minute mark.
Two goals, two right-foot finishes, two moments that briefly made the evening feel straightforward. It was not.
Alavés Find a Way Back
Enrique Sánchez Flores had deployed his side in a 5-3-2 shape, designed to absorb and frustrate. For long stretches it was overwhelmed. But Alavés were not simply passengers. They struck the woodwork twice across the ninety minutes and created two big chances, one of which went begging. The visitors’ persistence was real, even if their quality in the final third was limited.
The goal that gave the Bernabéu its late anxiety arrived in the 90th minute. Toni Martínez converted from a Guevara assist to make it 2-1, and suddenly the closing moments carried genuine tension. Two yellow cards were shown to Alavés players in those final exchanges, the frustration of a side who knew they had given themselves a chance and then run out of time.
Madrid held on. But only just.
The Statistical Picture
The numbers told the story of a side that dominated without ever fully convincing. Madrid finished with 62 per cent possession, 24 shots to Alavés’s 19, and eight on target compared to five. They won 63 duels to Alavés’s 40, and their passing accuracy of 90 per cent dwarfed the visitors’ 83. On paper, it looks like control.
Yet Alavés managed 13 shots from inside the box to Madrid’s 12, a figure that reflects how often Sánchez Flores’s side found pockets of danger despite their limited possession. The visitors also hit the woodwork twice, a reminder that the scoreline could have been tighter still had fortune not favoured the hosts at key moments.
Madrid created no big chances and missed none. Alavés created two big chances and missed one. The margins, as so often at this level, were thin.
Individual Performances
The standout performer on the night was the Real Madrid forward wearing the number 7 shirt, who finished with a match rating of 8.36. He registered five chances created, five successful dribbles from nine attempts, and eight ball recoveries across 90 minutes, contributing the kind of all-round forward play that goes beyond goal contributions. His single goal came from an xG of 0.26, a reasonable return from the positions he found.
The number 10 for Madrid was similarly influential, rated 8.77 on the night. He attempted eight dribbles and completed five, created four chances, and hit four shots on target from a total of seven attempts. His xG of 0.63 against a single goal scored reflects a performance where the return was slightly below what his involvement deserved, though the goal itself was the one that opened the scoring.
For Alavés, the number 11 was their most dangerous outlet, earning a rating of 8.27. He registered six shots, four on target, and hit the woodwork once. His xG of 0.65 against one goal scored is a broadly fair reflection of his evening, though his expected goals on target figure of 1.14 suggests the goalkeeper was tested more seriously than the scoreline implies. He won only three of nine aerial duels but contributed two chances created and was a constant physical presence.
The Alavés goalkeeper made five saves, four of them from inside the box, and kept his side in the match long enough for Martínez’s late goal to matter. His opposite number at the other end made four saves to preserve the two-goal cushion before the 90th-minute scare.
Madrid’s captain, wearing the number 8, was quietly essential: 50 accurate passes from 54 attempted, an assist, and two tackles won from two. He was the metronome behind a performance that had more anxiety in it than the scoreline suggested.
Form and Context
The H2H record between these sides now reads three wins from three for Real Madrid, with the most recent previous meeting, a 1-0 away win for Madrid in December 2025, following a similar pattern of narrow margins. Alavés have not beaten Madrid in any of their three meetings.
Yet the form table entering this fixture told a different story about Madrid’s current standing. One win, one draw, and three defeats in their last five matches, including a 3-4 loss at Bayern Munich and a 1-2 home defeat to the same opponents, meant this was not a side brimming with confidence. A 0-1 defeat at Mallorca and a goalless draw at home to Girona had added to the unease. This result halts the slide, at least temporarily.
Alavés arrived having gone winless in their last four, with draws against Real Sociedad and Osasuna bookending a 1-3 defeat at Celta de Vigo. Their only win in five came at home to Villarreal in March.
Verdict
Real Madrid take three points from a match they were expected to win, but the manner of it, a late concession, two woodwork strikes from the visitors, and a nervy closing stretch, will not entirely settle the mood around the Bernabéu. Arbeloa Coca’s side have arrested a run that was threatening to derail their season, but the performance carried enough uncertainty to suggest the underlying issues have not disappeared. For Sánchez Flores and Alavés, the result continues a winless run stretching back over a month, and a 90th-minute goal that changed nothing will offer little consolation as they travel back to the Basque Country.