VITORIA: Real Madrid superstar Kylian Mbappe was sent off for an ugly lunge but his side still beat Deportivo Alaves 1-0 on Sunday to stay four points behind Barcelona at the top of La Liga.

Mbappe’s dismissal put his team-mates under pressure but Alaves were also reduced to 10 players in the second half when Manu Sanchez hacked down Vinicius Junior.

Eduardo Camavinga’s effort was enough to split the teams as Real produced a gritty display to match Barcelona’s single-goal victory over Leganes on Saturday.

Assistant coach Davide Ancelotti took the place of his father Carlo Ancelotti, who was suspended, in the Real dug-out.

“The win gives us confidence, we knew it wouldn’t be easy and what happened in the game didn’t make it easy,” said Davide Ancelotti after the game.

“I haven’t spoken with (Mbappe) after the game, he’s not a violent guy and he said sorry, he realised the error he made, it’s clearly a red card and he paid the price.

“I’m not justifying it, but it happened after he was fouled several times in a row.”

Los Blancos began with Vinicius on the bench, with the Brazilian’s inconsistent form and the upcoming Champions League battle against Arsenal in mind.

Carlo Ancelotti had called for his team to defend better after conceding 11 goals in the last four games, including the painful 3-0 quarter-final first-leg defeat to the Gunners on Tuesday.

That call may have fed into Mbappe’s wild foul on Antonio Blanco which caused the striker’s dismissal.

By then Real had taken the lead in a hotly-contested clash at Alaves’ Mendizorroza stadium.

The French midfielder Camavinga curled home from the edge of the box after being teed up by Fede Valverde to send the Spanish champions ahead.

Mbappe’s red card after 38 minutes was a set-back for Real, who came under pressure in the second half.

Los Blancos fought off the hosts and brought on Vinicius and Jude Bellin­gham, who had also been given a rest.

Alaves were reduced to 10 men when Vinicius broke loose and Sanchez hacked him down with a poor challenge, which mig­ht have merited a red card even if the defender was not the last man.

The clean sheet will be a morale boost for Los Blan­cos, who can turn their attention to Arsenal’s visit to the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday.

On Saturday, Barcelona maintained their lead at the top of the table to four points with a hard-fought 1-0 win away to stubborn Leganes thanks to an own goal by defender Jorge Saenz that took their unbeaten La Liga run to 12 matches.

Hansi Flick’s side mo­ved to 70 points above second-placed Real Mad­rid, who have 66.

“For us today was a very difficult game but winning was very important. I am proud of what my team is doing in the last few weeks and months,” Barca boss Flick said.

“We need to work on our defence and attack. But we’ve got three points and that’s what’s important,” he added.

The relegation-threatened Leganes remain second from bottom on 28 points, two points off the safety zone.

Barca, who are unbe­aten in 24 games across all competitions, visit Bor­ussia Dortmund in their Champions League quarter-final second leg on Tuesday having won the first game 4-0.

Published in Dawn, April 14th, 2025