Real Madrid kept the pressure on Barcelona in the LaLiga title race by cutting the gap at the top to six points, edging past Alavés 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabéu and leaving the visitors hovering dangerously close to the relegation zone.

Despite their poor run of form and the growing prospect of finishing a second consecutive season without silverware, Madrid were fortunate to avoid an early setback. Álvaro Carreras hesitated at a crucial moment, allowing Ángel Pérez to break through on goal, but his decision to square the ball to Lucas Boyé ultimately wasted the opportunity.

As expected, the hosts controlled possession for much of the first half, though they struggled to create clear-cut chances. Their breakthrough on the half-hour mark came in fortunate circumstances. Kylian Mbappé spun and unleashed a speculative effort from distance, which took a significant deflection off Jonny Otto, wrong-footing Antonio Sivera and finding its way into the near corner.

Meeting Jude Bellingham’s delivery, Éder Militão rose well but could only loop his effort onto the crossbar. Alavés responded in kind just before the break, with Toni Martínez seeing his clever flick also strike the woodwork in an entertaining end to the first half.

Having shown little improvement from their previous four-match winless run before the interval, Real Madrid returned with far greater intent after the restart and quickly found another breakthrough.

Federico Valverde drove his team forward with purpose before slipping the ball into Vinícius Júnior, who caught Antonio Sivera off guard with a superb long-range strike that nestled into the near bottom corner.

Real Madrid continued to push forward, and Brahim Díaz came close to adding a third, only to see his curling effort brilliantly cleared off the line by Nahuel Tenaglia.

That moment seemed to spark Alavés into life, with Toni Martínez threatening to set up a tense finish. He first tested Andriy Lunin with a strong effort before rattling the woodwork with a diving header.

The forward eventually got the goal his performance deserved, cleverly backheeling Ander Guevara’s strike beyond Lunin. However, it arrived deep into stoppage time and merely denied Madrid a first LaLiga clean sheet in nine matches.

Although this result ended their winless run in April, it may prove too little, too late for Real Madrid. With Barcelona unlikely to slip in the remaining seven fixtures, the title race appears firmly out of their hands—though another Clásico still offers a glimmer of hope.

For Alavés, the situation is becoming increasingly concerning. With just one win in their last 10 league games and their relegation rivals picking up crucial results, survival is far from assured. That said, this was never expected to be a fixture from which Quique Sánchez Flores’ side would realistically take points.