La Liga kicked off for the first time in 2015 with Real Madrid facing a strong Valencia team, with Real entering the New Year on the back of a a 22-win streak in all competitions that started in September of 2014. For the first time in 23 games, we saw Real Madrid lose against a tough Valencia team.
The starting lineups were as follows:
Official @valenciacf_en Starting XI vs Real Madrid #YesWeCan pic.twitter.com/mpjsZs9klI
— Valencia CF (@valenciacf_en) January 4, 2015
Our starting XI against Valencia! #VALvsRealMadrid #HalaMadrid #RMLive pic.twitter.com/emkCCDKtIz
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadriden) January 4, 2015
Valencia played good defense against the strong Madrid team and were able to stop them a couple of times. Goals from Barragan and Otamendi helped Valencia take the 2-1 lead over Real Madrid, as Real Madrid struggled to convert their chances and get the ball past Diego Alvez.
As the first half kicked off, there were a couple of early scares in the first two minutes. A bad pass from Barragan to Alvez almost reached Bale but Alvez recovered to save his team. Valencia had control of the game and were able to get crosses in and give Ramos and Pepe a lot of trouble as Madrid had trouble clearing the ball out of their own half. However, it was Madrid who opened the scoring in the 13th minute following a handball by Negredo. As a cross came in from Kroos, the ball deflected off Alcacer’s head and hit Negredo’s hand as he tried to control the ball. This gave Ronaldo the chance to put Real Madrid on the scoreboard, and he netted the ball in the left side of the goal from the penalty spot.
With the 1-0 lead, Madrid started to get control of the game and started creating chances, but Valencia were not about to give up, as they were also fighting to get on the scoreboard. In the 22nd minute, Piatti pulled his left hamstring and had to be replaced by Gaya, who has been in great form so far this season for Valencia.
In the 25th minute, Kroos found Bale coming from the right side of the field and just as Bale found Ronaldo, the ball bounced off Mustafi’s hand with no handball being called but Ronaldo missed the open shot, saving Valencia from falling behind 2-0.
During stoppage time, Gomes had a chance to equalize for Valencia. After juking past Marcelo and Kroos, he was able to get an open shot, but the ball rebounded off Carvajal’s chest and hit the post, and Casillas was able to recover the rebound. Both teams went into the locker room with Real Madrid leading 1-0.
As the second half started, Valencia pressured Real Madrid right away. After a rebound from a Negredo shot, Gomes was able to get open and find the rebound. As he took his shot, the ball seemed like it was going in but went just over the bar to keep Madrid in the lead.
In the 52nd minute, Valencia equalized thanks to a goal from Barragan. With a pass from Gaya, Barragan found an open shot and it seemed like Casillas was going to stop the ball. However, the ball took a deflection off Pepe and went to the opposite side of the net, wrongfooting Casillas.
Real Madrid had trouble throughout the second half from that point on. They had trouble creating space for crosses and plays to keep pushing forward. One chance came in the 58th minute, when Bale played a quick freekick to Benzema who found Isco. Isco then found Bale running towards the goal, and Bale got past Otamendi and almost got the ball under Alvez’s legs but Otamendi recovered to challenge Bale, and Orban was there to clear the ball out of the box.
In the 65th minute, Valencia won a corner kick and it was Parejo who crossed it to the box. As the ball came in, Otamendi jumped over Ramos and was able to head it in over Casillas. With this goal, Valencia found themselves in the lead and with hopes of ending Real Madrid’s 22-win streak.
In the 73rd minute, Barragan come off the pitch after a great performance with one goal to his name for Algerian Sofiane Feghouli.
With 6 minutes left in the game, Marcelo crossed the ball and Isco found the ball and head it into Alvez’s direction, but Alvez became the hero for his team as he stopped the ball from going any further and Otamendi cleared it out, keeping Valencia in the lead. Real Madrid continued the pressure for the last 7-8 minutes but was not able to score an equalizer.
Final score: VALENCIA 2, Real Madrid 1
After 22 wins in a row, Real Madrid was finally stopped by Valencia and started the year off with a loss. On the other hand, Valencia was able to stop Madrid’s streak and start 2015 with 3 more points in the table. Real Madrid currently sit in first place with 39 points and a 13-0-3 record while Valencia are fourth with 34 points and a 10-4-3 record. Valencia will face Celta Vigo next on January 10th, while Real Madrid face Espanyol on the same day. Both teams will go in with the hopes of getting 3 more points on the table.
(Feature image: Manuel Alonso/Getty Images)