At half-time, Villarreal fans could have been forgiven for thinking they had one foot in the Copa del Rey quarter-finals, but it was Real Madrid who ran out 3-2 winners at the Estadio de la Ceramica.
Coming into this game after the Spanish Super Cup final defeat to Barcelona, Carlo Ancelotti was desperate to avoid another upset and get back to winning ways, putting out a strong team for the fixture
Before the break, the home side had already doubled their lead and made it 2-0 as Samu Chukwueze broke through Real Madrid’s high line.
The Nigerian received the ball from a pass from deep and linked up well to break through and beat Thibaut Courtois and give Quique Setien’s team a two-goal lead.
Los Blancos were not willing to give up and that much was clear as they came out with all guns firing in the second period.
It took 12 minutes, but Vinicius Junior was the man to score, ending a six-match goal drought as he turned away from Jorge Cuenca and finished past 20-year-old goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen. Another 12 minutes later, Real Madrid were level as Jorgensen dived low to deny a Karim Benzema header, only for his save to fall to the feet of Eder Militao to bundle the ball into the net wasn’t until there were only four minutes left when Dani Ceballos sealed the win for Real Madrid.
Marco Asensio raced to keep the ball in and cut it back to Ceballos who arrived late into the box and sent a powerful finish into the Villarreal goal.
The 3-2 win not only gets revenge after a defeat in Villa-real less than two weeks ago but also puts Real Madrid into the Copa del Rey quarter-final draw.
Source: Marca