All of Villarreal’s goals have come in the second half. In the 47th minute the hosts Pino opened the scoring after Mendy’s mistake. After less than an hour of play in the penalty area, Foyth played with his hand and Benzema equalized from a penalty kick.
But the joy did not last long for the reigning Ballon d’Or and his companions. In three minutes, Gerard Moreno returned the “Yellow Submarine” lead from another penalty for the hand of Alab.
Real failed to equalize from late pressure and suffered their second league defeat of the season. Villarreal jumped to fifth place after their third consecutive victory.
Real also recorded an interesting milestone. The starting lineup of the royal club, which in its 121-year history entered the game with serial number 4436, was without a Spanish player for the first time. Against Villarreal, coach Carlo Ancelotti fielded three Frenchmen (Benzema, Mendy, Tchouaméni), two Brazilians (Vinícius Júnior, Militao), two Germans (Kroos, Rüdiger), one Austrian (Alaba), one Croatian (Modrič), one Belgian (Courtois ) and a Uruguayan (Valverde). Real only finished the game without the Spaniard, as happened last season in the Champions League against Sheriff Tiraspol.
| Spanish Football League – Round of 16: |
|---|
| Villarreal – Real Madrid 2:1 (47. Pino, 63. G. Moreno pen – 60. Benzema pen), |
| Mallorca – Valladolid 1:0 (90.+4 Prats) |
| Spanish Barcelona – Girona 2:2 (51. Puado, 76, Joselu – 32. Villa, 85. Herrera). |
