Vincius Jr. Misses Penalty as Real Madrid Lose Further Ground in La Liga Title Race After 2-1 Loss vs Valencia

Real Madrid were stunned 1-2 by a struggling Valencia in a La Liga game at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday (April 5) that dealt a big blow to their title hopes. 

Mouctar Diakhaby gave Valencia a shock lead before Vinicius Jr. levelled the game, but any hopes of Real even taking a point were dashed by Hugo Duro's close-range header in injury time. 

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Antonio Rudiger almost pulled back an equaliser but was kept out by Giorgi Mamardashvili, and Valencia deservedly went home with all 3 points. 

Vinicius Jr. Misses Penalty

The big moment of the first half for Real Madrid came when they won a penalty and Vinicius Jr. stepped up to take the spot kick. 

However, his tame kick from the spot was easily saved and it left many in the stadium frustrated. 

To add insult to injury, Mouctar Diakhaby gave Valencia a shock lead just 5 minutes later with a bullet header from a corner kick. 

But he almost levelled the scores a few minutes later due to an embarrassing own goal - only for it to be ruled out by VAR due to an offside from Kylian Mbappe in the build-up. 

Mbappe Denied on Multiple Occasions

Vinicius Jr. would find some form of redemption when he equalised for Real in the beginning of the 2nd half, finishing from close range after Jude Bellingham's flick-on from Luka Modric's corner set him up nicely. 

Mbappe would then be denied on two occasions when he was in a good position, and his poor finishing marred what had been a good performance from him overall. 

But the killer blow came in the fifth minute of injury time when Hugo Duro headed home from close range and put the game beyond all doubt. 

This was Valencia's first away win of the season, and it could not have come at a worse time for 'Los Blancos'.