Real Madrid stumble at home to Valencia in Liga
Real Madrid stumble at home to Valencia in Liga
Kylian Mbappe struggles to escape the grasp of Valencia's Cristhian Mosquera (left) (JAVIER SORIANO)
Hugo Duro headed a winner in added time to give Valencia a 2-1 win at the Santiago Bernabeu and deal a blow to Real Madrid's Spanish title hopes.
Duro, a former Real Madrid youth player, who came on as a second-half replacement, finished off a counter-attack to head the winner five minutes into added time.
Advertisement
The result prevented Madrid moving level on points with Barcelona, ahead of the La Liga leaders' match with Real Betis later on Saturday.
"La Liga is more complicated, but we have to fight until the last game," said Real coach Carlo Ancelotti.
The victory lifted Valencia to 15th, seven points clear of the bottom three.
Real had an early chance to take control when Valencia's Cesar Tarrega was adjudged to have fouled Kylian Mbappe in the penalty area, but Giorgi Mamardashvili saved a weak spot-kick from Vinicius Junior.
It was the Brazilian's second consecutive miss from the spot for Real, after he wasted a Champions League penalty against Atletico Madrid.
Advertisement
Within a minute Valencia went up the other end and won a corner. From it Mouctar Diakhaby outjumped Antonio Rudiger and rocketed home a header.
Real levelled after 50 minutes when Vinicius tapped over the line in a scramble following a Real corner. It was his 104th goal for Los Blancos, matching Brazilian compatriot Ronaldo.
Real gave a lacklustre performance three days before the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final at Arsenal.
Nevertheless, Mbappe carved out enough chances to win, but wasted opportunities in the 36th, 37th, 48th, 49th and 68th minutes.
Valencia's Georgian goalkeeper Mamardashvili was in imperious form keeping his team in the game until Duro delivered his winner.
Advertisement
Valencia stunned the dominant hosts deep into injury time when a slick countering-attacking move was emphatically finished by Duro from Rafa Mir's cross.
"They didn't need to do much to score two goals," said Ancelotti. "We took risks at the end and found ourselves hit on the counter-attack.
"We've had deserved defeats this season, but I don't think we lacked attitude today," he added. "It's not a deserved defeat. We created lots of chances but lacked a little effectiveness."
Ancelotti started third-choice 'keeper Fran Gonzalez following injuries to Thibaut Courtois and Andriy Lunin, although the Ukrainian was fit enough to be named on the bench.
Advertisement
In addition to Arsenal, Ancelotti has to focus on the Copa del Rey final against Barcelona on April 26 in Seville.
"The match against Barca in the Copa del Rey will be different; they'll attack more, and we'll have to be better at the back and be effective up front," the Italian said.
rsc/mcd/pb/nf
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
22 minutes ago
- Yahoo
UFC Fighter Ariane da Silva's Brain Tumor Made Weight Cut Impossible, Now Promotion May Cut Her After Third Consecutive Loss
UFC Fighter Ariane da Silva's Brain Tumor Made Weight Cut Impossible, Now Promotion May Cut Her After Third Consecutive Loss originally appeared on Athlon Sports. UFC fighters routinely push their bodies to dangerous extremes just to step on the scale—starving for weeks, sweating out water in saunas until they faint, and enduring kidney-straining dehydration protocols. The sport's weight-cutting culture forces athletes to gamble with their health, often walking the line between competition and hospitalization in pursuit of a size advantage. Advertisement These practices persist despite medical emergencies. Behind every weigh-in, there's often an untold story of suffering that does not get the spotlight as much as the knockout finishes and the trash talk. Dana WhiteGetty Images UFC flyweight Ariane da Silva's shocking six-pound weight miss ahead of her UFC 316 bout against Wang Cong was caused by complications from a benign pituitary tumor, her coach and husband Renato da Silva revealed during an interview with MMA Fighting. The Brazilian fighter, who tipped the scales at 132 pounds—well above the 126-pound non-title limit—underwent a dangerous weight cut attempt while managing hormonal imbalances triggered by the tumor. Advertisement Blood tests during her camp showed elevated prolactin and cortisol levels, leading to the discovery of the tumor, which disrupted her body's ability to shed weight safely. The situation worsened when da Silva's team enlisted a new nutritionist, whose strategy to retain water until the final days of the weight cut, backfired catastrophically. Renato described harrowing symptoms during the final push, including double vision, slurred speech, and loss of motor control—clear signs her body was shutting down. He emphasized that UFC medical staff intervened to halt the cut after deeming it life-threatening, saying, 'She wasn't walking right, blinking too slow, and couldn't focus.' Advertisement Her coach's decision to allow her to continue to fight despite these issues was baffling and was met with criticism by some people online. SportingNews journalist Val Dewar shared the interview on X (formerly Twitter), and expressed his opinion that 'Fighting with a tumor in your f— brain, even a benign one, seems like a bad Idea. Like, [a] really, really bad idea.' Her opponent Wang Cong was gracious enough to agree to a catchweight bout despite the weight disparity and accepted 30% of da Silva's purse. Wang also expressed sympathy on social media towards da Silva and her struggle trying to make weight, saying, 'After she came out, I went over to see her situation. Fortunately, there is no big problem, because it's not easy for every athlete.' Advertisement Da Silva ultimately lost a unanimous decision to Cong, extending her skid to three fights and putting her in the crosshairs of being cut from the promotion. The incident casts a spotlight on MMA's weight-cutting crisis, where fighters often gamble with extreme measures to hit weight targets before a fight. Da Silva's case is uniquely alarming due to the tumor's role, raising questions about whether she should have been cleared to fight at all. The UFC has yet to address if da Silva will receive medical suspension or specialized support moving forward. Related: UFC Champion Alexander Volkanovski Suffers Medical Scare During Fight 'I could not see' Related: UFC Coach Reveals He Nearly Pulled Out 'Half-Dead' Champion from Title Defense Due to Severe Medical Issues This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 8, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trent Alexander-Arnold's Real Madrid presentation planned as Club World Cup plan emerges
Former Liverpool star Trent Alexander-Arnold is likely to be presented as a Real Madrid player on Wednesday, with the right-back scheduled to fly to Spain following England's friendly against Senegal on Tuesday. Advertisement Xabi Alonso and his Madrid players are due to fly to the United States on Saturday ahead of the Club World Cup starting next week, which leaves a very small window for Alexander-Arnold's unveiling. The Alonso era at Madrid started on Monday, June 9, as he took his first training session since agreeing to replace Carlo Ancelotti as Los Blancos boss. Alexander-Arnold, of course, was not present as he is still on England duty, but he will be in the Spanish capital later this week ahead of the flight to the US. READ MORE: Liverpool transfer news LIVE: Florian Wirtz medical, Milos Kerkez talks, Darwin Nunez future READ MORE: How Liverpool should spend $171M if Florian Wirtz transfer collapses Advertisement Dean Huijsen, another Madrid signing from the Premier League, is expected to be presented at the Bernabeu on Tuesday having finished up on international duty with the conclusion of the Nations League on Sunday. Alexander-Arnold's move from Liverpool to Madrid was confirmed at the end of May, with the Spanish club paying the Reds an $11 million transfer fee — despite the player's Liverpool contract being due to expire just a few weeks later. That's because Madrid wanted Alexander-Arnold to be part of Xabi Alonso's squad for the start of the Club World Cup. Madrid could have waited until July 1 to sign Alexander-Arnold on a free transfer, and he would have been eligible to play in Los Blancos' remaining games in the tournament, but the Spanish giant was keen for the player to have a period of integration in the weeks building up to the revamped event. Advertisement Meanwhile, Alexander-Arnold has been told that he remains behind Kyle Walker in England's right-back pecking order by a Three Lions legend. Ahead of England's win over Andorra on Saturday, in which Curtis Jones was selected ahead of both players, Chris Waddle said: "It's hard to name a better English right-back [than Walker]. Trent Alexander-Arnold can be exceptional but he's not outstanding as a true defender. "He's got his talents, there's no denying it, with exceptional passing and dead-ball delivery, but if it's him or Walker, we're not blessed in that position for a young right-back who does what you expect. I think Kyle is the pick of the two right now, his all-round game puts him ahead of the rest."
Yahoo
30 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Student wins international award for AI injury prediction platform
A student has won an international award for creating an AI platform that predicts injuries in elite athletes. Abdulmalik Alshamari, a first-year software engineering student at the University of Brighton, developed Champions Hub, a web-based platform that uses open-access player data and a custom-built algorithm to predict injury risks with more than 80 per cent accuracy. Advertisement The system analyses nine key metrics, including fatigue, workload, recovery, and training load, to detect early warning signs of injury. Even in its development phase, the platform has shown remarkable predictive power. Abdulmalik's Champions Hub correctly predicted Gabriel Jesus injury in January (Image: University of Brighton) It correctly forecast a 71 per cent injury risk for Arsenal's Gabriel Jesus just eight days before his season-ending injury in January. It also accurately predicted injuries for Real Madrid defenders Dani Carvajal and Éder Militão just four days before they occurred. Over the past four seasons, clubs in Europe's top five football leagues have suffered more than 14,000 injuries, costing an estimated €2.3 billion. Advertisement Champions Hub aims to reduce these losses by helping teams proactively manage player health. Abdulmalik's innovation recently won second place for sustainability at the prestigious AI League, a global sports tech challenge featuring more than 1,800 participants from 20 countries and more than 600 advanced submissions. Abdulmalik, who moved from Saudi Arabia to Brighton to study his degree, was awarded 100,000 SAR (approximately £21,000) to further develop the platform. He said: "This platform isn't just about technology—it's about protecting athletes, saving clubs money, and using AI for good. Advertisement "Since arriving in Brighton, I've felt empowered not just as a student, but as a solution builder. "The support and environment here have helped me turn an idea into a global solution." Jennie Harding, senior lecturer and course leader of software engineering at the University of Brighton, praised Abdulmalik's achievement. She said: "These are the kind of practical, real-world problems that we love to see students thinking about and helping to solve. "At Brighton, we are proud to develop students who will tackle global challenges through technology. "What Abdulmalik has achieved in just his first year in the university is nothing short of remarkable and we're excited to see what he does next." Abdulmalik hopes to pilot his platform with professional teams in Europe and across the world, especially in the Middle East where he's from.
