Levante vs Real Madrid Review
Real Madrid maintained their perfect start to the season by comfortably defeating Levante 4-1, marking their second time since the 1987/88 season to begin with six consecutive La Liga victories. Levante entered the match having won comfortably against Girona in their previous game, so despite the challenge ahead, the home team remained hopeful. This optimism was evident early on, with Iván Romero missing a shot and Adrián de la Fuente heading wide from an unmarked position during a corner, giving Levante some encouragement.
However, once Real Madrid found their rhythm, they dominated the game, consistently breaking down the opposition. Mathew Ryan was quick to save a low curling shot from Vinícius Júnior, and Franco Mastantuono’s follow-up, though offside, struck the crossbar, but it wasn’t long before Real Madrid opened the scoring. Levante had not conceded a goal within the first 30 minutes of a La Liga game this season, but that streak ended in the 28th minute when Vinícius skillfully struck the ball with the outside of his foot, sending it inside the far post.
Riding this momentum, Los Blancos extended their lead as Mastantuono finished a quick counterattack by slotting a shot near the post into the top corner. Álvaro Carreras made a powerful run that nearly led to a third goal before halftime, but Ryan kept his team in the game by blocking a low side-footed shot from Vinícius. Levante got a bit of luck in the 54th minute when Romero’s shot took a heavy deflection, looping over Thibaut Courtois, and Etta Eyong tapped in the rebound for his fourth league goal of the season.
However, any growing hope of a comeback faded 10 minutes later when Kylian Mbappé calmly converted a Panenka penalty after Unai Elgezabal committed a reckless foul. Moments later, Mbappé sealed the victory by dribbling past Ryan and scoring, giving Los Blancos an unbeatable lead. Vinícius had the chance to score a fifth goal in stoppage time with a skillful chip, but it didn’t matter as the three points extended Real’s lead at the top of the La Liga standings.
This victory marked Real’s fourth consecutive away league win for the first time since May 2024. On the other hand, Levante have only won one of their last 10 home head-to-head matches (with 2 draws and 7 losses), placing them 16th in the early rankings.
