José Mourinho had two natural right backs available at Mestalla on Saturday night and started neither. Denzel Dumfries and Trent Alexander-Arnold began on the bench, captain Federico Valverde lined up in the back four, and it was Valverde who broke Valencia open in the 28th minute of a 3-0 win that stretched Real Madrid's winning run to eight games in all competitions and pulled them level on points with La Liga leaders Barcelona.
A right back who still shoots like a midfielder
The lineup was the same one Mourinho used in the Clásico win at Camp Nou on Oct. 25, except in goal: Thibaut Courtois; Valverde, Dean Huijsen, Ibrahima Konaté, Marc Cucurella; Aurélien Tchouaméni, Bernardo; Arda Güler, Jude Bellingham, Diomande; Kylian Mbappé. Spanish previews had expected Trent to come in after three away games in seven days, with Valverde pushed into midfield, where he finished the midweek Champions League win in Athens.
Instead, Valverde started wide and arrived where Valencia least wanted him. Mbappé's free kick was blocked by the wall, the rebound dropped to the Uruguayan about 20 yards out, and he drove a low left-footed shot past Stole Dimitrievski. It was his second decisive strike of the week after his stoppage-time winner against AEK Athens.
Eight minutes later the game was effectively over. Bellingham got to the byline on the left, his cross took a deflection off a Valencia defender, and Güler, rested in Athens, volleyed in at the back post with his weaker right foot.
Valencia's plan lasted 27 minutes
Javier Aguirre set Valencia up in a 5-3-2 built to deny space, and early on it worked. Courtois had to make a sharp save after Aarón Mayol stripped Tchouaméni in a dangerous area, and Guido Rodríguez had a goal ruled out for offside. Both Real Madrid goals came from moments the low block could not control, a loose ball off the wall and a deflected cross.
Aguirre changed shape after halftime and took off center back Justin de Haas, but Madrid created the better chances. Dimitrievski denied Güler, Mbappé and Bellingham before Güler's through ball finally sent Mbappé clear in the 75th minute. The Frenchman went around the goalkeeper and finished from close range for his 13th league goal of the season.
Captain José Gayà was sent off late for a sliding challenge on Mbappé. "We knew it would be a tough game, facing Madrid at their best moment of the season," Gayà told DAZN. "We tried in the second half, changed our system... but we couldn't get into the game."
The numbers Madrid take into the break
Mbappé has now scored in seven straight appearances and has 17 goals in 16 games in all competitions. Madrid have won five in a row in La Liga, and they did it again without Vinícius Júnior, who served the last game of a four-match ban. Their last defeat came against Atlético Madrid on Sept. 20.
Mourinho's message afterward was about temperament as much as form. "From my experience, this team smells good," he told reporters, according to AFP. "We never had chaos, we've been calm, we understand why we lost that game." He added that "winning games at Real Madrid has to be normality."
Valencia, still looking for their first home league win of the season, sit 19th, a point from safety. The night also carried extra weight in the city: with the club planning to move into Nou Mestalla in 2027, it was likely Real Madrid's last league visit to the old stadium, unless the Copa del Rey brings them back first. Play also paused in the ninth minute for a tribute to Tenerife striker Jesús de Miguel, who died on Tuesday.
The bigger test is waiting on Sunday, when Barcelona visit Atlético Madrid. At least one of the two will drop points, and Mourinho's side will watch from level with the leaders. For Trent, Dumfries and anyone else wondering where they fit, Valverde gave a clear answer on Saturday: Mourinho is happy to use his captain anywhere, as long as he keeps scoring goals like this one.
