Mbappe, Real Madrid defeat Valencia; narrow gap to Barcelona on ladder

Mbappe, Real Madrid defeat Valencia; narrow gap to Barcelona on ladderGoals by Kylian Mbappe and Alvaro Carreras allowed Real Madrid to peg back Barcelona in the La Liga standings.Published On 9 Feb 2026Real Madrid stayed within one point of La Liga leaders Barcelona with a 2-0 win at Valencia on Sunday as second-half goals by Alvaro Carreras and Kylian Mbappe settled a largely uneventful contest.Real dominated possession but found chances hard to come by, with Valencia keeper Stole Dimitrievski rarely called into action as the visitors struggled to turn control into threat.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Super Bowl 2026: Seahawks ride defence, Walker to beat Patriotslist 2 of 4Man City fight back to win 2-1 at Liverpool and keep title hopes alivelist 3 of 4Vonn crashes out in women’s Olympic downhill; airlifted off mountainlist 4 of 4Mumbai or Kathmandu? Nepal fans light up T20 World Cup despite painful lossend of listIt took them until the 65th minute ⁠to break the deadlock through Carreras before Mbappe wrapped up the points in stoppage time.Barcelona lead the table on 58 points, with Real second on 57. Valencia are 17th, a point above the relegation zone.Mbappe offered the main outlet with sporadic runs down the left, but clear openings were limited.Real coach Alvaro Arbeloa was forced to improvise, missing suspended winger Vinicius Jr and the injured trio – Jude Bellingham, Rodrygo and Eder Militao.The absences opened the door for ⁠academy players Raul Asensio, David Jimenez and Gonzalo Garcia to start, with Mbappe providing the lone spark for an uninspiring Real side.Defender Alvaro Carreras (#18) set the tone for the Real Madrid victory, scoring the opening goal in the 65th minute [Jose Jordan/AFP]The deadlock was broken through fullback Carreras in a fortunate turn of events.Making an ambitious run into the box, Carreras was dispossessed by Valencia’s defenders, but the attempted clearance ricocheted back off him and fortuitously fell at his feet.The 22-year-old was quickest to react, sweeping a low shot into the bottom-left corner.