European football: Mbappé spot on to deliver first Real Madrid win for Arbeloa

Real Madrid ended a turbulent week with a much-needed 2-0 win against relegation-threatened Levante, courtesy of second-half goals from Kylian Mbappé and Raúl Asencio, after being met with boos from a restless Bernabéu crowd before the breakthrough arrived.

The win snapped Real’s two-match losing run and offered brief respite after a bruising week. They looked flat in the first half, still carrying the scars of Sunday’s 3-2 defeat by Barcelona in the final of the Supercopa de España, followed by the departure of Xabi Alonso as manager the next day and a shock 3-2 Copa del Rey exit to second-division Albacete on Wednesday.

Boos greeted the players at kick-off, with sections of the crowd also directing chants at the club president Florentino Pérez. Real finally eased the tension when Dela tripped Mbappé in the box and the French forward converted the penalty in the 58th minute to extend his league-leading tally to 19 goals.

Seven minutes later, Real doubled their advantage through Asencio, who rose to meet Arda Guler’s corner with a powerful header, giving Álvaro Arbeloa a crucial cushion as the new head coach and settling the mood inside the stadium.

“It was a very important day. Everyone wanted to turn the situation around,” Asencio told RMTV. “What happened in Albacete shouldn’t have happened. We felt guilty and wanted to make up for it. He [Arbeloa] asks us to enjoy ourselves – to be protagonists, to dominate, to focus on ourselves and not on the opposition. Little by little, we’ll get there.”

“It (the penalty) is something we know can’t happen. We fell apart,” the Levante striker Iván Romero said. “The attitude is very good and we don’t give up until the last minute. We have to continue on this path and go for the next match.”

The win keeps Real second in La Liga on 48 points from 20 matches, one behind Barcelona, who have a game in hand and visit Real Sociedad on Sunday. Levante are 19th with 14 points.

The Barcelona manager, Hansi Flick, had said Marcus Rashford’s long-term future with the club remains uncertain. The England international has largely impressed during a loan spell from Manchester United with seven goals across 28 appearances But Flick said a decision as to whether Barcelona will take up an option to keep Rashford beyond the end of the current campaign is yet to be taken.

“[Sporting director] Deco and I always speak about our team and what we can do,” said Flick when asked about Rashford. “Marcus’s performances have been really good until now, but we have to manage it. It’s Deco’s job and the club’s job to work on next season so we have to wait. We still have plenty more time, there are many months, many days, many weeks ahead of us, and that’s how it is.”

On Saturday night, third-placed Villarreal – seven points behind Real Madrid but now with two games in hand – visit Real Betis.

Inter continued to set the pace at the top of the Serie A standings with a 1-0 victory away to Udinese on Saturday, where Lautaro Martínez’s goal earned his side their eighth win in a nine-game unbeaten league run.

The visitors were on the attack from the off. Martínez had an early chance, turning his marker but failing to trouble the keeper with his finish and Federico Dimarco’s volleyed shot flashed across the face of the goal.

Inter continued to press and the opener came in the 20th minute. Piotr Zielinski’s ball into the box was backheeled to Martínez by Pio Esposito and the Inter striker twisted and turned, making enough space to drive his shot into the bottom corner.

There was little let up from Inter after the goal, with Manuel Akanji heading wide from a corner and Maduka Okoye making a fingertip save from Dimarco’s strike from the edge of the area. The Inter keeper, Yann Sommer, was called into action, parrying away a Jakub Piotrowski shot after a rare Udinese foray forward.

Inter move to 49 points, six ahead of AC Milan who play Lecce at home on Sunday, with third-placed Napoli on 40 points before hosting Sassuolo later on Saturday. Udinese remain 10th on 26 points.

The game, like all Serie A fixtures this weekend, was preceded by a minute’s silence in memory of the Fiorentina owner Rocco Commisso, whose death was announced earlier on Saturday.

The highlight of Saturday’s programme in Germany is the later kick-off, with Bayern Munich at third-placed RB Leipzig. In France, Lens – knocked off the top by Paris Saint-Germain’s 3-0 win against Lille on Friday night – will be seeking to regain their one-point lead in Ligue 1 when they host Auxerre.

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