Madrid (AFP) - Real Madrid continued its streak of victories and raised it to 5 in a row by defeating its host Valencia, the bottom runner-up, 3-0, and joined Barcelona at the top of the standings before facing the Catalan giants for the second pole in the capital, Atletico, in the twelfth stage of the Spanish Football League on Saturday.

Published on: 07/11/2026 - 23:13

At Mestalla Stadium, Real decided the result of the match in the first half with goals from Uruguayan Federico Valverde (28) and Turkish Arda Guler (36), who was behind the ball for the third goal in the second half by striker Kylian Mbappe (75), in a match that the hosts completed with ten players after their captain Jose Gaya was sent off with a red card after a foul on the French star (80).

Mbappe found his way to the net for the seventh match in a row, raising his score in the scorers' rankings to 13 goals, two goals behind Brazilian Rafinha, Barcelona's striker.

Los Blancos played the match in the absence of Brazilian winger Vinicius Junior, who was serving a suspension in the last match out of four matches.

Like other matches in the first and second divisions for men and women, the match was stopped in the ninth minute in honor of Tenerife striker Jesus de Miguel, who passed away on Tuesday following a violent collision with Equatorial Guinea goalkeeper Jesus Awono from the Andorra team during a match in the second division.

It is the fifth victory in a row for Real Madrid since its loss in the derby to its arch-neighbor Atletico 1-2 in the seventh stage, as part of a series that included its victory over its arch-rival Barcelona 2-1 in El Clásico, and the eighth in a row in various competitions.

The Royal Club raised its score to 30 points and advanced to second place, equal to Barcelona, ​​which is visiting Atletico, which fell to third place with 28 points in the top matches of this stage on Sunday.

On the other hand, Valencia suffered its seventh loss this season, leaving the “Bats” with 9 points in the penultimate nineteenth place.

Zapiri gives Santander the three points

Young Moroccan striker Yasser Al-Zabiri continued his brilliance and led his Racing Santander team to victory over numerically inferior host Malaga 2-1.

At La Rosaleda Stadium, between two newly promoted teams, Al-Zabiri, 21, scored his ninth goal this season in the league, giving his team the three points in the 60th minute, 10 minutes after his teammate Iker Luque Sierra equalized, turning the tables on Malaga, who had taken the lead through Carlos Dutor (28).

The hosts completed the match with ten players after the promising Moroccan international left defender Adam Azno (20 years old) was sent off after receiving two yellow cards (64).

Al-Zabiri, who won the U-20 World Cup with his country's youth team in Chile in the fall of 2025, has established himself as a star with Santander since he moved to their ranks this summer on loan from French club Rennes.

Al-Zabiri scored the hat-trick in the victory over Elche (3-2) in the third stage, the double in the victory over Deportivo Alaves (2-1) in the fifth stage, his second goal against Barcelona (2-7) when he came on as a substitute, the first equalizing goal against his guest Valencia (2-2) in the eighth, and the victory over Espanyol 2-1 in the tenth stage, before scoring the winning goal against Malaga today.

Santander, which returned to winning ways after a harsh loss at home to Real Madrid 0-3 in the last stage, raised its score to 14 points, temporarily moving up to ninth place.

It also continued its superiority over Malaga, as it did not suffer any defeat in the last 7 matches in various competitions.

On the other hand, Malaga failed to score three points for the 12th consecutive match this season and suffered its second consecutive loss in the league, leaving coach Juan Francisco Funes’ men at the bottom of the standings with only five points.

Draws prevailed during the two matches between Espanyol and Deportivo La Coruña, 0-0, and Osasuna, with Athletic Bilbao, 1-1.

On Sunday, Elche will also play Real Betis, Real Sociedad will play Rayo Vallecano, Villarreal will play Getafe, and Celta Vigo will play Levante.

© 2026 AFP

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