MADRID : Real Madrid moved level on points with La Liga leaders Barcelona after securing a 3-0 victory at Valencia on Saturday, as Spanish football paid tribute to Tenerife striker Jesus de Miguel, who died following an on-field collision earlier this week.
Matches across Spain were paused in the ninth minute in memory of De Miguel, who died on Tuesday after colliding with Andorra’s goalkeeper during a Spanish second division match on Monday. The tribute marked the number nine shirt he wore for Tenerife.
Players and supporters gathered at Tenerife’s stadium for a memorial service, where captain Enric Gallego delivered an emotional tribute.
“You knew what it meant to work towards a common goal, you understood football as something that went far beyond oneself,” Gallego said.
“Just a few days ago, we were sharing all of that with you — today we have to speak of you in the past tense. It’s terribly unfair.”
De Miguel’s funeral was held on Thursday, attended by around 400 mourners, including Spain coach Luis de la Fuente and Real Madrid president Florentino Perez.
Spain’s footballers’ union had called for all weekend matches to be suspended as a mark of respect, but most fixtures went ahead with a minute’s silence before kick-off and a minute’s applause in the ninth minute.
MBAPPE EXTENDS SCORING RUN
At Mestalla, Real Madrid extended their winning run to eight matches across all competitions, with Federico Valverde and Arda Guler scoring in the first half before Kylian Mbappe sealed the victory after the break.
Mbappe scored for the seventh consecutive match, taking his tally to 13 La Liga goals and 17 across all competitions in 16 appearances this season.
“From my experience, this team smells good,” Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho told reporters.
Madrid have responded strongly since their 5-2 defeat by Atletico Madrid on September 20, winning every match since then.
“We never had chaos, we’ve been calm, we understand why we lost that game,” Mourinho said.
“I always fight for people to be balanced in the good moments. Winning games in a team like Real Madrid, you can’t be taken up in a whirlwind of joy. Winning games at Real Madrid has to be normality.”
Madrid were without winger Vinicius Junior, who was serving the final match of a four-game suspension, but continued their impressive form in his absence. They had also beaten Barcelona in the Clasico at the Camp Nou on October 25.
Valencia briefly threatened when Guido Rodriguez had a goal ruled out for offside before Valverde opened the scoring with a powerful strike from outside the penalty area after Mbappe’s free-kick rebounded off the wall.
Guler doubled the advantage soon afterwards, capitalising on a deflected Jude Bellingham cross.
Valencia goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski denied Guler, Mbappe and Bellingham as Madrid searched for a third goal before Mbappe finally found the net.
The France international raced on to Guler’s pass, rounded Dimitrievski and squeezed the ball into the net to extend his scoring streak.
Valencia captain Jose Gaya was sent off with around 10 minutes remaining for a late sliding challenge on Mbappe, compounding a difficult evening for the hosts, who remain 19th and a point from safety.
“We knew it would be a tough game, facing Madrid at their best moment of the season,” Gaya told DAZN.
“We tried in the second half, changed our system, but we couldn’t get into the game.”
Elsewhere, new Espanyol coach Eder Sarabia began his tenure with a goalless home draw against Deportivo La Coruna.
Osasuna snatched a late 1-1 draw against Athletic Bilbao, while Racing Santander came from behind to beat Malaga 2-1.
