Alarming Form For Real Madrid Ahead of La Liga Game vs Villarreal
It's been a positive last week for Real Madrid, coming off a week that was one of the club's lowest. Despite the crowd reaction from their own fans, Los Blancos managed a 2-0 win against Levante. The day after Barcelona lost 2-1 to Real Sociedad, the gap at the top was just one point.
That was followed by a 6-1 Champions League win over Monaco. That put Real Madrid in a prime spot to finish in the top eight, meaning automatic progression to the Round of 16.
This weekend, they face third-placed Villarreal in La Liga. A tough game in itself, but with it being played at Estadio de la Cerámica, past results mean Real need to get over a psychological hurdle.
Tough run of results for Real Madrid at Villarreal
Heading into the game, Real Madrid does not want to throw away their promising start to 2026 in La Liga. Cutting the gap to just one point, they don't want to give that deficit straight back. With Barcelona at home to bottom side Real Oviedo 24 hours later, they should take three points.
That means a win against Villarreal feels very important, or at least avoiding defeat. The negative for Los Blancos is their horrendous recent record on the road against El Submarino Amarillo.
In their last eight La Liga games in Castellón, Real Madrid have won just once. That came last season, a 2-1 win thanks to a brace from Kylian Mbappe. Six of those other games without a win were draws, including three 2-2s and a 4-4 in the 2023-24 season.
The win last season stopped the rot, which likely shakes the mental side of getting a win against Villarreal on the road. However, the record still does not look great, and with their opponents also still in the hunt for the title, the fans will be up for the game. A win, and if they win their game in hand, they would be one point behind Madrid.
Despite the poor form in both domestic cup competitions, Los Blancos have two wins from two in La Liga, putting the pressure on Barcelona at the top.
There seems to be some positivity building around Alvaro Arbeloa, and a win over a top team in the league would keep that confidence stacking. The last game in January in the league, so staying within one point of Barca would be a great start to the year.
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-031bbeb5612ca252e2129722373fa56d.png "Jordan Merritt")
Jordan Merritt is a staff writer for Real Madrid On SI. Before joining On SI, he wrote at Fansided, covering Ole Miss football, basketball, and baseball. He has also written for YardBarker, Heavy Sports, and the official EFL site. Merritt is a big sports fan, spending most of his weekends watching Soccer, the NFL, the NBA, college football/basketball, and others. Before starting his career as a freelance writer, Merritt was an Engineer for over 10 years. He lives in West Yorkshire, England, and is keenly interested in sports trading cards.
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