Valencia down to ten, but Real Madrid had already won 3-0

Real Madrid had far more of the ball and far better chances, and Valencia's late red card came after the game was already decided at the Mestalla.

Valencia lost José Gayà to a red card in the 79th minute, leaving them with ten men for the final stretch against Real Madrid. By then the game was long settled. Madrid had led 3-0 since the 75th minute, so the sending off changed how Valencia finished rather than how the match ended.

Real Madrid had the ball for 68% of the game, well above the 52.1% they average over a season. Valencia, who usually keep 43.7% of the ball in their home matches, were left with just under a third. Possession simply means who is in control of the ball, and here it was clearly Madrid's.

Madrid took 19 shots, against a usual 15.6, and 11 of them were on target. Valencia managed only four shots all evening, when they normally take 9.6 at home. The gap was not only in volume, because the chances that troubled the keeper almost all belonged to Madrid.

Expected goals, a rough measure of how good each chance was, put Madrid at 2.06. That is close to their own average of 1.92 and above the 1.32 a typical side in this league produces. Valencia reached only 0.24, against the 1.11 they average at home, which tells us their attacks were not finding clear openings.

Federico Valverde gave Madrid the lead in the 28th minute, and Arda Güler doubled it eight minutes later. Güler then set up Kylian Mbappé for the third in the 75th minute, and he finished the match with the highest rating on either side, a 9 for a goal, an assist and three key passes. Valencia conceded three at home, where they usually concede 1.5.

Valencia's keeper, S. Dimitrievski, made eight saves, a sign of how often Madrid were getting shots away. Madrid's goalkeeper had only two to make. Huijsen won nine duels for Madrid, the most of anyone on the pitch, which shows how much contact there was in the middle of the field.

Real Madrid are third in the table with 27 points from 11 matches, and they have won nine of those games. Valencia are 19th with 9 points from the same number of matches. Madrid have won all six of their most recent games.

Player of the matchA. Güler1 goal · 1 assist9.0

F. Valverde1 goal8.6

I. Konaté2 duels won8.0

D. Huijsen1 chance created7.9