(Football news) Real Madrid on the weekend suffered a defeat at Valencia. The game was stained by the racist abuse received by Vinicius Jr. The Brazilian got a red card but his ban was overturned as the Spanish FA concluded that the VAR submitted biased evidence. Despite being available for the game Vinicius was not in the squad due to a discomfort in his knee. Rodrygo came in place of him while Eder Militao, Marco Asensio, Aurélien Tchouaméni, Dani Ceballos, Lucas Vazquez and Ferland Mendy all dropped to the bench. It looked like David Alaba or Nacho would start at left back but it was Antonio Rudiger who played there and did a decent job.

The game throughout the 90 minutes looked somewhat like a preseason friendly as both teams didn’t have much to play for. Karim Benzema opened the scoring in the 31st minute which gave Real Madrid firm control of the game. Despite having a below par season that was Karim Benzema’s 29th goal in all competitions. Real Madrid had a couple of half chances but nothing clear cut. Rayo Vallecano finally equalised via substitute and former Real Madrid player Raul de Thomas in the 84th minute. It looked like the match was heading for a draw but Rodrygo managed to score the winner in the 89th minute.

Atletico Madrid needed a win to go to 2nd place and they looked well set to do it after being 3-0 up in the 46th minute against Espanyol. Saul Niguez opened the scoring in the 21st minute while Antoine Griezmann doubled their advantage just before half time. Immediately after the restart Yannick Carrasco looked to have sealed the win with a 3rd goal. However Espanyol had other ideas as Cesar Montes, Joselu and Vinicius de Souza Costa scored to level the game. The result gives Espanyol hopes of surviving in La Liga this season. They are still 19th on the table, 3 points off safety and they have to play Valencia and Almeria.

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