KYLIAN MBAPPE AND Vinicius Junior were both on target for **Real Madrid** as they beat Rayo Vallecano 2-1 on Sunday to pull level with La Liga leaders Barcelona.
Real Madrid rose one point above Atletico Madrid who suffered a surprise 2-1 defeat to Getafe earlier, while Barca’s match on Saturday against Osasuna was postponed because of the death of one of the Catalan club’s doctors.
Carlo Ancelotti’s Madrid produced a solid, if not spectacular, performance to get the better of their local rivals, ahead of the huge Champions League derby clash against Atletico beckoning on Wednesday.
The Italian coach brought Jude Bellingham back into the starting line-up after suspension, but left Thibaut Courtois and Antonio Rudiger out entirely because of a knee issue and illness respectively.
The duo are expected to return to face Atletico in the last 16 second leg, where they hold a 2-1 lead.
French superstar Mbappe, who had failed to score in his two previous appearances, causing concern in the Spanish capital, received Vinicius’ pass and took on Florian Lejeune before firing home to give them the lead.
Four minutes later Madrid doubled their advantage through Vinicius, who also fired blanks against Atletico in midweek. The winger produced two stepovers to keep Ratiu guessing before finishing lethally.
Mbappe should have netted the third or passed to the open Vinicius to score, but his shot was well saved by Augusto Batalla. Rayo pulled back a goal in first-half stoppage time, with Diaz netting his first for the club from the edge of the box.
Ancelotti took off Rodrygo, Mbappe and Bellingham as Madrid banked only their second win from their last six league matches.
**Atletico Madrid,** now third, seemed on course for a narrow win against Getafe until Angel Correa’s red card left them exposed in the final stages.
Diego Simeone’s side, second, would have gone top with a victory and Alexander Sorloth struck from the penalty spot after 75 minutes.
However, Atletico forward Correa was sent off and Getafe midfielder Mauro Arambarri scored two late goals to snatch victory for the hosts.
Tonight **Real Sociedad** lost ahead of their trip on Thursday to face Manchester United in the Europa League, falling to a 1-0 defeat to Sevilla. Chidera Ejuke scored the only goal of the game in the 46th minute
**Napoli** breathed fresh life into their **Serie A** title hopes on Sunday with a 2-1 victory over Fiorentina that ended a five-match winless run, while Atalanta routed Juventus 4-0 to stay in the hunt.
Romelu Lukaku gave Napoli the lead on 26 minutes and Giacomo Raspadori doubled that on the hour before Albert Gudmundsson pulled a goal back for Fiorentina.
Antonio Conte’s Napoli climbed back to within a point of leaders Inter Milan, who came from two goals down to beat bottom side Monza 3-2 on Saturday.
Atalanta hammered Juventus 4-0 in Turin to stay within three points of Inter and snap the hosts’ five-game winning streak. It was just a second defeat of the season for Thiago Motta’s side.
Mateo Retegui notched his league-leading 22nd goal of the season from the penalty spot after a handball in the first half and Marten de Roon added a second right after the break for Atalanta.
Davide Zappacosta steered in a third for Gian Piero Gasperini’s side before Ademola Lookman’s deflected strike completed a thumping victory.
Fourth-placed Juventus are now nine points adrift of Inter and could be overtaken by Lazio, who host Udinese on Monday.
Roma continued their resurgence under Claudio Ranieri as Matias Soule’s goal after only 22 seconds was enough to secure a 1-0 win at Empoli for their fifth successive league victory.
[– © AFP 2025](https://www.afp.com/en/home)