Real Madrid 4-0 Málaga result, stats and report

Real Madrid ground out a 1-0 win over Villarreal at the Bernabeu, with Yan Diomande's 62nd-minute goal proving decisive, but the night belonged to VAR, red cards, and a dressing room that cannot keep its discipline.

Málaga looked set to hold on after Bryan Zaragoza's early strike, but Espanyol substitute Adrián Niño Heredia levelled in the 90th minute to deny the hosts all three points in a feisty Friday night encounter.

Deportivo Alaves host Málaga on Friday night with form on their side and a fragile away side in front of them. This one has the look of a home win written all over it.

Real Madrid have shipped seven goals in three Champions League matches and kept zero clean sheets. RB Leipzig arrive wounded but desperate. Something has to give.

Jose Mourinho called criticism of Kylian Mbappe's international break conduct 'ridiculous' and confirmed the France captain starts for Real Madrid, despite a bicycle photo that contradicts his own long-standing club rules. The real story is a manager reasserting control while protecting his Ballon d'Or-chasing star six points off the pace in La Liga.

Real Madrid have handed UEFA a 50,000-page dossier branded 'evidence of extraordinary gravity' in the Negreira case, just three weeks before El Clásico. Barcelona's calm rebuttal, that no new proceedings have opened, exposes the gap between rhetoric and reality in a saga UEFA has sat on since 2023.

Javier Tebas dismissed Jose Mourinho's referee conspiracy claims as living 'in another galaxy', but Spain's Technical Committee of Referees has since confirmed Real Madrid had a legitimate grievance over Lee Kang-In's tackle on Federico Valverde. The row reopens a five-year cold war between Tebas and Florentino Perez as Real sit fourth, six points behind unbeaten Barcelona.