Real Madrid turned in a complete performance against a poor Valencia side, with Kylian Mbappe grabbing two and Jude Bellingham finding form in Saturday’s 4-0 romp at Santiago Bernabeu. Los Blancos did most of their damage in the first half, and were able to overcome a missed penalty from Vinicius Jr to seal a comfortable win.

Madrid were in control from the first minute, and peppered the Valencia goal often. Vinicius came close in the opening exchanges, cutting onto his left before forcing a tidy save while Bellingham saw a similar effort be kept out soon after.

Instead, a bit of luck gave Los Blancos the lead, as they were handed a soft penalty after a Valencia defender was adjudged to have handled the ball in the box and Mbappe converted it with one swift stroke. The second didn’t require any fortune; Mbappe scored it, capping off a fine flowing move with a simple tap-in, thanks to a delightful set up from Arda Guler. Bellingham then made it three shortly before half-time, putting an exclamation mark on a wonderful performance with a curled effort from outside the box. 

Vinicius endured a more difficult evening as things wore on. Mbappe handed the Brazilian a spot-kick, but he fired right at the ‘keeper, and everything from there felt slightly rushed before Vinicius was replaced with 15 minutes to go. Not that it mattered to the rest of the Madrid team, though, and Alvaro Carreras added an audacious fourth late on, smashing into the top corner from the edge of the box to cap off a commanding Madrid win. Next stop, Anfield in the Champions League. 

GOAL rates Real Madrid’s players from the Bernabeu…