The game carried weight. Third versus second, Villarreal living a La Liga season above expectations and a pressured Real Madrid, knowing that a win could provisionally take them to the top of the table. This was not just another match, and you could feel it from the start.
Villarreal came in fearless. They defended well, pushed their lines up when they could and never gave the impression they were there just to survive. Parejo took on the role of the team’s brain from early on, finding pockets between the lines and being, by far, the most dangerous player for the Yellow Submarine in the first half. Real Madrid, on the other hand, showed something that had already appeared in other matches: unnecessary technical errors in build-up, misplaced passes, rushed decisions. This was not suffocating pressure from Villarreal, these were mistakes that cannot happen at this level.
Arda Güler was one of the few trying to shake things up down the right, Mastantuono also looked to accelerate on the counter-attacks, but everything always felt unfinished. Vini Jr was practically neutralised for most of the first half, well contained, with no space to provoke in one-v-one situations. Villarreal, even attacking with few men, managed to create more of a sense of danger than Real Madrid.
The first half ends with low numbers, low xG, very few real chances. A lukewarm game, tactically interesting, but far from good.
Football being poetic in the way only it knows how to be. On one side, Pape Gueye, a recent hero for his national team in the AFCON final. On the other, Brahim Díaz on the bench, the man who missed the penalty in that same final. Crossed destinies, heavy stories inside a single match.
Right at 47 minutes, the game changes. Vini Jr receives on the left, draws the defender, provokes, insists, goes all the way to the byline and puts the ball into the box. Pape Gueye tries to clear, but does it badly. Mbappé, always alert, anticipates and taps it into the net. It was not a beautiful goal, it was a goal from someone who is always where he needs to be. Cold, opportunistic, lethal. 20 goals in La Liga in January. Absurd.
From then on, Villarreal tried to react, but a serious problem became clear: lack of quality in the final third. There were moments when the equaliser felt right there, one detail away. The rehearsed free kick that ends with Gerard Moreno hitting the crossbar is the perfect example. That was the 1-1. That was the moment, but it did not go in.
Real Madrid never played a great game. In fact, it needs to be said without fear: Mbappé’s performance, despite the two goals, was not good. Technically he was below his level, lost balls, made poor decisions in transition. But… he decides. And in elite football, that weighs more than playing beautifully.
Villarreal kept failing at everything they tried to create. Bad decisions, poor finishing, an absolutely toothless final third. Nicolas Pépé tried, but without clarity. Parejo grew increasingly isolated. When the game seemed to be heading towards a narrow 0-1, the final blow arrived.
Already in stoppage time, Mbappé breaks in transition, Pedraza arrives late and commits a clear foul. Penalty, and Mbappé does not flinch. A chipped finish. Almost provocative. Maybe an indirect message to Brahim Díaz? A joke that might be in bad taste?
Post-match
Real Madrid did not shine, did not enchant, did not dominate, but they won. They won because they have players who decide games even when everything is far from ideal. Mbappé is that. He does not need 90 good minutes to make the difference.
Villarreal leave this game with the most frustrating feeling possible: they competed, they were organised, but they were harmless where it matters most. Possession is not enough. If there is no poison in the final third, you will eventually be punished.
Vini Jr did not score, but he was decisive at the key moment. Mbappé, even in a technically poor game, decides like very few in the world.
In the end, it is clear: Real Madrid are not yet back to being a machine, but they are a team that knows how to win even when playing badly. And that, whether you like it or not, is champion behaviour.