Match Highlights – Valencia vs Real Madrid

Gary Neville’s Valencia played to a 2-2 draw with Rafa Benitez’s Real Madrid in Sunday night’s La Liga thriller at the Estadio Mestalla as both sides squared out.

The Sunday evening’s meeting of former Manchester United and Liverpool figures Gary Neville and Rafa Benitez, now coaching La Liga sides Valencia and Madrid, respectively, brought plenty of Premier League excitement to the La Liga no doubt with plenty Premier League fans tuning in too.

The 2-2 result does not really help Madrid keep pace with La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid and Barcelona but fans of both sides saw positives to take from the game.

A point against a team who played with 10 men for 22 minutes did not help Neville’s Valencia in their bid to recover from a poor start to the season and climb the table.

Although Madrid battled well while a man down, Benitez is likely to again be under the microscope due to his tactical changes. History appeared to be repeating itself as Madrid went ahead early through a superb Karim Benzema goal but then appeared to sit back and let the opponents into the game — just as they had at Atletico Madrid and Celta Vigo earlier in the season.

With Valencia’s full-backs and wide players regularly finding space down the wings as Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale watched, the home side pinned Madrid back. Joao Cancelo and Andre Gomes missed more than decent opportunities before the latter was hauled down by Pepe inside the area just before halftime.