Madrid, Apr 20 (EFE).- A half-volley from Fede Valverde helped Real Madrid beat Athletic Club 1-0 in a tense match at the Bernabéu on Sunday and keep his team’s fight for the title alive.
Kylian Mbappé absence prompted manager Carletto’s to opt for something new.
Luka Modric and Dani Ceballos started, bringing experience and creativity in the center, but even that was of little use to a lackluster team that only saw some sparks provided by Vinícius.
For Athletic, without Nico and with Iñaki Williams on the bench, the only complex task was stopping Vinícius’ brazenness.
Time was running out and Real Madrid’s anxiety rising especially after a Vinícius goal was disallowed in the 80th minute following a VAR review.
Minutes away from crashing out the second major title race in three days, Real found the reward for its persistence in stoppage time when Valverde struck the ball spectacularly with the outside of his right foot to send it into the top corner of the visitors’ goal. EFE
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