Real Madrid 2-1 Alaves: Mbappe and Vinicius help Arbeloa´s side return to winning ways

Real Madrid got themselves back on track in LaLiga as goals from Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior sealed a 2-1 win over Alaves at the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday.

After failing to win their last two league matches, Madrid returned to winning ways here, but they still find them six points adrift of leaders Barcelona, having played a game more.

It was Alaves who started on the front foot as Toni Martinez’s stinging drive forced Andrii Lunin into an early save, before Trent Alexander-Arnold saw his shot blocked.

However, after finding their feet, Alvaro Arbeloa’s side got in front through Mbappe, whose shot from the edge of the penalty area deflected off Jonny and wrong-footed visiting goalkeeper Antonio Sivera in the 30th minute.

Mbappe came close to doubling his tally three minutes before the break but could only skew Vinicius’ cutback beyond the left post, and he was almost made to pay for that miss when Martinez’s instinctive flick struck the woodwork in first-half stoppage time.

Nevertheless, Madrid pulled further clear five minutes after the restart when Vinicius picked up the ball and drove at the Alaves defence before unleashing a venomous strike that bounced past Sivera and nestled into the bottom-left corner.

Brahim Diaz then saw his curling effort brilliantly cleared off the line by Nahuel Tenaglia as Madrid looked to hammer home their advantage, with a combination of Mbappe and Vinicius unable to turn Dani Carvajal’s teasing cross home.

Alaves did, however, look the more likely to score late on as Victor Parada’s diving header hit the base of the post, and the visitors got themselves on the scoresheet in the third minute of added time after Martinez flicked Antonio Blanco’s shot into the net.

FT: @RealMadridEN 2-1 @Alaves
30′ @KMbappe
50′ @vinijr
90’+3′ T. Martínez
@Emirates pic.twitter.com/PsWTpy5mNa

— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadriden) April 21, 2026

Data Debrief: Mbappe finds his range but Madrid concede again

In their first match since being dumped out of the Champions League by Bayern Munich at the quarter-final stage, Madrid delivered a much-needed victory to keep their fading hopes of LaLiga glory somewhat intact.

And it was no surprise that Mbappe had his say, with his strike the 24th he has notched in the league this season. He has also now scored eight goals from outside the box this campaign in all competitions (in 43 games), his best tally in a single term and the best in 2025-26, among players from the top five European Leagues.

But Madrid’s failure to keep a clean sheet continues to haunt them. They have now conceded at least one goal in each of their last nine LaLiga matches (12 goals).

Alaves had their chances, too. They finished with an expected goals (xG) total of 2 from their 19 shots, five of which were on target compared to Madrid’s 1.63 from their 14 attempts.