On Thursday in the Spanish "La Liga" championship, the postponed 17th round matches from December were played.
The Madrid "Real" team, defending the title of world champions, sought to start the year with victories, but "Villarreal" did not allow them to do so in their home arena - led by veteran Santi Cazorla, the "submarines" extended the game to a 2:2 draw.
"Villarreal" showed the visiting team from Madrid horns from the very beginning of the match - in the 4th minute Santi Cazorla, after a great pass from Samuel Chukwueze, put the hosts ahead.
However, "Real" responded immediately - after a lifted ball from Luca Vazquez, Karim Benzema equalized the score with a header. In the 20th minute, the "whites" took the lead when another Frenchman from the Madrid team, Raphael Varane, scored from a set piece.
In the second half, "Villarreal" continued to unsettle the visitors and finally punished the country's vice-champions in the 82nd minute. Completely unmarked, Santi Cazorla once again beat Thibaut Courtois and gave the "submarines" a very important point.
"Real" missed the opportunity to overtake "Sevilla" in third place and remains at the bottom of the top four with 30 points. "Vilarreal" is on the brink of relegation.
Result:
"Villarreal" 2 - 2 "Real Madrid"
4' [1 - 0] S. Cazorla
7' [1 - 1] K. Benzema
20' [1 - 2] R. Varane
82' [2 - 2] S. Cazorla
League Table:
