Immediate Reaction: Real Madrid 1-0 Villarreal

Real Madrid secured a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Villarreal in La Liga following the international break. Yan Diomande scored the decisive goal, which stood after a VAR review and marked his first strike for the club. Fede Valverde captained a side featuring Trent Alexander-Arnold and Kylian Mbappé, the latter having struck the post during a relatively quiet first half.

The drama increased in the second half when Vinícius Júnior appeared to find the net, only for VAR to intervene and result in a red card for the Brazilian due to an earlier foul. Despite being reduced to ten men for the closing stages, Los Blancos held off Villarreal's attack to preserve the clean sheet and claim all three points.