Real Madrid beats Alaves with violent red card for Mbappe | OneFootball

With his focus set on the second leg of the UEFA Champions League, Carlo Ancelotti preserved many of his starting line-up for the 1-0 away win over Alaves, keeping alive his hopes of winning LaLiga. However, Real Madrid will need to step up their game if they are to overturn a three-goal deficit against Arsenal.

Alaves took the initiative in attack and adopted a very aggressive stance, surprising Carlo Ancelotti's side, but the difference in the technical quality of the squads meant that Real had the main chances. Real got their goal in the 35th minute, when Camavinga made a good run through the middle and curled a left-footed shot past the opposing goalkeeper.

Deportivo Alaves v Real Madrid - LaLiga EA Sports | Soccrates Images/GettyImages

Hosts tried to press more in the second half with an extra player due to Kylian Mbappe's sending off before the break, but Alaves ended up having a lot of problems with too many shots off target, without offering any real danger. In addition, Real were able to make good defensive clearances and take space away from their opponents' attackers.

Match definitely went into garbage time from the 70th minute onwards, when Manú Garcia hit Vinícius Júnior with a very violent tackle and received a red card. With 10 players for both teams, Real Madrid only had to manage their lead, while Alaves could no longer get close to scoring.

Mbappe deserves suspension after violent foul on red card

Deportivo Alaves v Real Madrid CF - La Liga EA Sports | Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/GettyImages

Despite the win that kept Real Madrid just four points behind leaders Barcelona in second place in LaLiga, the biggest highlight was Mbappe's sending off. The Frenchman went over the top in his tackle on his opponent and hit Blanco full in the calf, coming very close to seriously injuring his opponent.

Unbelievably, the referee initially only gave a yellow card on the play, having to resort to a VAR review to correctly give the red card. Even if he didn't intend to injure his teammate, Mbappe deserves a punishment of at least three games for taking the risk. As well as damaging his team in LaLiga, Mbappe could miss out on the Copa del Rey final against Barcelona, and that wouldn't be absurd.