Valencia 0-3 Real Madrid: Mourinho's men keep pressure on Barcelona and Atletico

Real Madrid went level with Barcelona at the top of LaLiga as Federico Valverde, Arda Guler and Kylian Mbappe scored in a 3-0 win at Valencia, who ended the game with 10 men.

With Hansi Flick's defending champions taking on Atletico Madrid on Sunday, Los Blancos – who entered matchday 12 in third – knew they had an opportunity to make up ground.

And that is precisely what they did, with midfielders Valverde and Guler giving them a commanding 2-0 half-time lead, before Mbappe added further gloss after the break, in addition to drawing a red card for Valencia captain Jose Gaya.

Madrid dominated possession without truly threatening early on, though Aurelien Tchouameni was indebted to Thibaut Courtois for thwarting Aaron Mayol following the midfielder's poor giveaway.

Valencia had a potential opening goal disallowed from the resulting corner, with Guido Rodriguez ruled offside, but that close call only stirred Madrid into action at the other end.

When Mbappe slammed a free-kick straight into the Valencia wall in the 28th minute, the loose ball sat up nicely for Valverde, who drilled a trademark effort into the bottom-left corner from the edge of the area. 

And Los Blancos had a second goal only eight minutes later, with Jude Bellingham's centre from the left byline ricocheting off Pepelu and finding its way to the back post, where Guler applied a simple side-footed finish. 

Valencia goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski was a busy man in the second half, coming off his line to thwart both Guler and Mbappe, then making a superb double save to keep out Bellingham and the France captain.

Mbappe would not be denied, however, as he darted onto Guler's pass inside, rounded Dimitrievski, and slotted into an unguarded net in the 75th minute.

And Valencia's frustrations boiled over just four minutes after that goal, as Gaya came across on the cover and jumped into a rash, last-man challenge on Mbappe, receiving a straight red card for the denial of a clear goalscoring opportunity.

Valverde picks his spot again

Whatever the result of Sunday's meeting between Barca and Atleti, Madrid will find themselves at least a point off the top of LaLiga for the international break.

But Jose Mourinho's side are primed to play a central role in this season's title race, having blown Valencia out of the water with a clinical attacking display. They racked up 19 shots and 2.26 expected goals, compared to Los Che tallying four shots and 0.16 xG.

Mbappe's goal took him to 13 for the season across all competitions, and four in his last three meetings with Valencia, though Valverde's strike was the pick of the bunch.

Having also scored a sensational stoppage-time winner against AEK Athens in the Champions League on Wednesday, the Uruguayan has netted from outside the area in back-to-back games for Madrid for the third time (in all competitions), last doing so in October 2022.

And Madrid should get stronger after the hiatus, too, as they prepare welcome Vinicius Junior back from a four-game domestic ban against Celtia Vigo on November 21.