Real Madrid pulled level with La Liga leaders Barcelona with a 3-0 win at Valencia on Saturday, as Spanish football paid tribute to Jesus de Miguel.
Tenerife striker De Miguel died Tuesday after a collision with Andorra’s goalkeeper in a Spanish second division match on Monday, and matches across the country were stopped in the ninth minute to pay homage to the number nine.
Advertisement
In Tenerife, fans and players gathered at the stadium for a memorial and farewell to De Miguel.
“You knew what it meant to work towards a common goal, you understood football as something that went far beyond oneself,” said Tenerife captain Enric Gallego in an emotional speech.
“Just a few days ago, we were sharing all of that with you — today we have to speak of you in the past tense. It’s terribly unfair.”
De Miguel’s funeral took place on Thursday and around 400 mourners attended, including Spain coach Luis de la Fuente and Real Madrid president Florentino Perez.
Spain’s footballers’ union had asked for all weekend matches to be paused as a mark of respect, but most games went ahead.
Advertisement
There was a minute of silence before kick-off for De Miguel and matches were stopped for a minute’s applause in the ninth minute — his shirt number.
– ‘This team smells good’ –
Real Madrid striker Kylian Mbappe scored for the seventh match running in the win over 10-man Valencia.
Reigning champions Barca visit Atletico Madrid, third, on Sunday, aiming to move back clear of the chasing pack.
Jose Mourinho’s Madrid largely dominated at Mestalla stadium as they secured an eighth win in a row across all competitions.
Federico Valverde and Arda Guler’s first half goals put Madrid in the driving seat and Mbappe added a third in the second half.
Advertisement
“From my experience, this team smells good,” Mourinho told reporters.
The Madrid coach said his team did not lose their heads after their last defeat, by Atletico Madrid on September 20, after which their winning run began.
“We never had chaos, we’ve been calm, we understand why we lost that game,” said Mourinho.
“I always fight for people to be balanced in the good moments, I always tell them that winning games in a team like Real Madrid, you can’t be taken up in a whirlwind of joy, winning games at Real Madrid has to be normality.”
Los Blancos were without winger Vinicius Junior, who was serving the final game of a four-match ban.
Advertisement
Madrid have thrived in his absence, putting heavy pressure on Barca, whom they beat in the Camp Nou Clasico on October 25.
Valencia’s Guido Rodriguez had a goal disallowed for offside before Mourinho’s side took control.
Valverde drilled Madrid ahead from outside the area after Mbappe’s free-kick was blocked by the Valencia wall and fell to the Uruguayan.
Guler soon doubled the lead, after Jude Bellingham’s cross was deflected kindly into his path.
Valencia goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski saved from Guler, Mbappe and Jude Bellingham as Madrid tried to find a third to kill off the game.
Advertisement
Eventually Mbappe produced it, bursting onto a dangerous pass by Guler to dart past Dimitrievski and squeeze home his 13th league goal of the campaign.
It was the forward’s 17th goal in 16 games across all competitions. Mbappe has netted in his last seven appearances for Madrid.
Valencia captain Jose Gaya was dismissed with around 10 minutes remaining for a late sliding foul on Mbappe to further spoil Javier Aguirre’s team’s night. Los Che are 19th, a point from safety.
“We knew it would be a tough game, facing Madrid at their best moment of the season,” Gaya told DAZN.
“We tried in the second half, changed our system… but we couldn’t get into the game.”
Advertisement
Earlier new Espanyol coach Eder Sarabia’s side were held to a goalless home draw by Deportivo La Coruna.
Osasuna snatched a late 1-1 draw against Athletic Bilbao, while Racing Santander came from behind to beat Malaga 2-1.
rbs/ea
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
