Real Madrid Beats Villarreal 4-1 to Take Spanish League Lead 

Real Madrid's Luka Modric (C) celebrates with his teammates after scoring the 4-1 goal during the Spanish LaLiga match between Real Madrid and Villarreal CF, in Madrid, Spain, 17 December 2023. (EPA)
Real Madrid's Luka Modric (C) celebrates with his teammates after scoring the 4-1 goal during the Spanish LaLiga match between Real Madrid and Villarreal CF, in Madrid, Spain, 17 December 2023. (EPA)
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Real Madrid Beats Villarreal 4-1 to Take Spanish League Lead 

Real Madrid's Luka Modric (C) celebrates with his teammates after scoring the 4-1 goal during the Spanish LaLiga match between Real Madrid and Villarreal CF, in Madrid, Spain, 17 December 2023. (EPA)
Real Madrid's Luka Modric (C) celebrates with his teammates after scoring the 4-1 goal during the Spanish LaLiga match between Real Madrid and Villarreal CF, in Madrid, Spain, 17 December 2023. (EPA)

Real Madrid lead the Spanish league after beating Villarreal 4-1 but lost defender David Alaba with a serious knee injury on Sunday.

Jude Bellingham, Rodrygo, Brahim Díaz and Luka Modric scored for Madrid, which moved one point ahead of Girona ahead of the Catalan club's home game against Alaves on Monday.

Madrid is seven points ahead of third-place Barcelona. The defending champion drew 1-1 at Valencia on Saturday.

“It's always good to open a gap to Barcelona,” Rodrygo said. “But seven points is not a lot, there is still a lot of league left. We have to keep this mindset and keep trying to win every match.”

Alaba had to be helped off the field at the Santiago Bernabeu before halftime when his left knee buckled while he tried to steal the ball from an opponent near midfield. The Austria defender fell and immediately called for help while grabbing his knee. He couldn't put weight on his left leg while being carried off the field in the 34th minute.

Madrid said after the match that Alaba ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament and will need to undergo surgery in the next few days. The club did not immediately say how long he is expected to be sidelined.

“He was sad at halftime,” Rodrygo said. “We have to wait for the tests but it's something that worries us.”

It was the latest serious knee injury for Madrid this season. The club is already without goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and defender Éder Militão because of cruciate ligament injuries that are expected to keep them out of action for a long period. Eduardo Camavinga and Arda Guler also sustained knee injuries.

“We are very sad because it's the third injury like this in the last four months. It's something that had never happened to one of my teams before,” Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said. “But the team has been able to overcome these injuries. It has done more than people thought it could do.”

Bellingham and Rodrygo continued their good scoring runs to give Madrid a 2-0 first-half lead. Bellingham scored his league-leading 13th goal with a header off a cross by Modric in the 25th, and Rodrygo added to the lead in the 37th for his fifth goal in his last six games. Bellingham has seven goals in his last nine matches with the club.

Díaz scored the third goal after a beautiful run that started near the midfield line in the 64th. He cleared two defenders before finding the net from inside the area. Modric closed the scoring with another shot from inside the box in the 68th.

José Luis Morales scored in the 54th for Villarreal, which hasn't won in three straight league matches and has dropped to 14th place.

Villarreal has nine losses in 17 league matches so far, its worst run at this point of a season.

Villarreal had been the last team to beat Madrid in the league at the Bernabeu, winning 3-2 last season. That was Madrid's only loss in its last 31 league matches as a host. It lost both of its league matches against Villarreal last season.

Díaz started instead of Joselu, while Lucas Vazquez was the right back in place of the injured Dani Carvajal.

Thrilling draw

Sixth-place Real Sociedad had three goals disallowed and twice hit the woodwork in a 0-0 home draw against seventh-place Real Betis.

It was the ninth consecutive match without a loss for Sociedad in all competitions, and the third straight league draw for Manuel Pellegrini’s Betis.

Elsewhere, Cadiz’s winless run in the league reached 13 matches after a 1-1 draw at Las Palmas.

Cadiz, which equalized with a goal by Chris Ramos in the 83rd, stayed only one point from the relegation zone. Las Palmas, which was seeking its fourth win in a row in all competitions, is in ninth place.

Almeria drew 0-0 with Mallorca at home to remain the only winless team after 17 rounds.

The club has five draws and 12 losses. It is eight points behind the first team outside the relegation zone.

Mallorca, unbeaten in five straight games in all competitions, is in 15th place.



Madrid Needs Epic Champions League Comeback. Barca and PSG Are Flying Post-Messi and Mbappe 

Football - LaLiga - Deportivo Alaves v Real Madrid - Estadio Mendizorroza, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain - April 13, 2025 Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe during the warm up before the match. (Reuters)
Football - LaLiga - Deportivo Alaves v Real Madrid - Estadio Mendizorroza, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain - April 13, 2025 Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe during the warm up before the match. (Reuters)
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Madrid Needs Epic Champions League Comeback. Barca and PSG Are Flying Post-Messi and Mbappe 

Football - LaLiga - Deportivo Alaves v Real Madrid - Estadio Mendizorroza, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain - April 13, 2025 Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe during the warm up before the match. (Reuters)
Football - LaLiga - Deportivo Alaves v Real Madrid - Estadio Mendizorroza, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain - April 13, 2025 Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe during the warm up before the match. (Reuters)

Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal hold such commanding leads in their Champions League quarterfinal matches that a place in the last four looks all but certain.

Don’t be so sure.

European club soccer’s most prestigious competition has a habit of upsetting the odds.

Barcelona and PSG have very recent memories of how quickly things can change.

Barcelona was 4-2 up on aggregate against PSG early in the second leg of last year’s quarterfinals - only to lose 6-4.

In 2017 PSG led 4-0 after the first leg of a round of 16 game between the two in Paris, but famously lost 6-1 at Camp Nou.

Part of what makes the Champions League such compelling viewing is the fragility of even the most commanding leads.

Liverpool trailed AC Milan 3-0 at halftime of the final of 2005 before staging a dramatic fightback and going on to win in a penalty shootout. The Merseyside club stunned Barcelona on its way to the title in 2019 when overturning a 3-0 loss in the first leg of the semifinals by winning the return leg 4-0.

There are many more examples of how the tables can be turned when Europe’s elite go head-to-head, which is why nothing can be taken for granted ahead of this week’s second leg matches.

Real trouble

Record 15-time winner and defending champion Real Madrid will have to produce another of its famous comebacks to overturn a 3-0 first leg loss to Arsenal.

If anyone can, Madrid can - but it goes into Wednesday’s game at the Bernabeu after a run of unconvincing results. Carlo Ancelotti’s team has only won one of its last four games in all competitions - Sunday’s 1-0 victory against Alaves.

The defeat to Arsenal could have been even heavier after being dominated at the Emirates Stadium and came after Madrid needed a penalty shootout to overcome Atletico Madrid in the round of 16.

But Madrid’s history is built on producing special performances in Europe. Its run to the title in 2022 was filled with dramatic comebacks - none more so than the semifinals win against Manchester City when trailing 5-3 on aggregate going into the 90th minute of the second leg.

Madrid simply never knows when it is beaten.

Europe’s finest?

This could be the first great Barcelona team of the post-Lionel Messi era.

Top of the Spanish league and on the verge of the Champions League semifinals, Barcelona looks like the team to beat in this year’s competition.

Leading 4-0 against Borussia Dortmund, it would take the unlikeliest of collapses in Germany on Tuesday to prevent Hansi Flick’s team from booking its place in the semifinals.

With the devastating goal-scoring power of Robert Lewandowski and the individual brilliance of Raphinha and Lamine Yamal, this looks like Barcelona’s best team since the days of Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez and its best chance in a long time of winning its first Champions League title since 2015.

A new era

The post-Kylian Mbappe era is going just fine for PSG. A record-extending 13th French league title has already been sealed and there have been standout performances in the Champions League.

After struggling early on in the tournament, wins against Manchester City and Liverpool have underlined PSG’s progress under Luis Enrique this season, with an exciting young team that is full of flair.

While less reliant on the individual brilliance of long-time talisman Mbappe, PSG has been driven by the outstanding form of Ousmane Dembele, who is realizing the potential that convinced Barcelona to pay up to 147 million euros (then $173 million) when signing him from Dortmund in 2017. A run of 24 goals in 18 games between December and March established him as one of the deadliest forwards in Europe.

Leading 3-1 against Aston Villa after the first leg of their quarterfinal, PSG looks in control, but has so often failed to live up to expectations in this competition.

Dark horse

Inter Milan leads Bayern Munich 2-1 in the closest match of the quarterfinals.

Davide Frattesi’s 88th-minute winner in Munich gave the 2023 finalist the advantage heading into the second leg at the San Siro.

Bayern, under Vincent Kompany, cruised to the quarterfinals and looks like regaining the German league title this season.

Inter could be the dark horse of this year’s competition, having come so close to stopping City’s treble of trophies two years ago.