Vigo, Spain: Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior's goals earned Real Madrid an entertaining 2-1 win at Celta Vigo yesterday to pull them level with La Liga leaders Barcelona.
France striker Mbappe started and sent the Spanish champions ahead amid reports he is being investigated for an alleged rape during a visit to Sweden.
The 25-year-old was criticised in his homeland for not appearing in his country's recent Nations League matches before the Swedish media reports emerged following his trip during the international break, which Mbappe labelled "fake news".
Williot Swedberg levelled for Celta, who might have snatched a draw, but Vinicius tucked home what proved Madrid's winner after 66 minutes.
Madrid, unbeaten in 42 La Liga matches, host Barcelona next weekend in the Clasico, after the Catalans welcome Sevilla on Sunday.
"I'm happy because we won after the international break which is not always easy," Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti told Real Madrid TV.
"When they equalised our changes gave new energy to the team and it was a very important win.
"(Mbappe and Vinicius) trained very well in the break, improved their conditions, and they started today's game very well and they have to continue."
With captain Dani Carvajal sidelined for months to come, Ancelotti replaced the Spanish right-back with Lucas Vazquez.
The Italian set up with a three centre-back system, breaking away from his favoured four-man defensive line to accomodate Vazquez as a wing-back.
Celta Vigo midfielder Swedberg missed a fine opening in the first half with Thibaut Courtois tipping his effort wide when the Swede ran through on goal.
Madrid's new look defence gave Celta plenty of breathing room in attack but the visitors also looked dangerous at the other end, without carving out clear-cut chances.
Mbappe slammed Madrid ahead with a long-range effort, which flew into the top corner after Fran Beltran gave the ball away and Eduardo Camavinga laid it off to the striker.
It was the forward's first strike from outside the area for Madrid, his sixth league goal and his eighth in 12 appearances across all competitions since joining from Paris Saint-Germain this summer.
Celta striker Borja Iglesias rolled home from an offside position as Claudio Giraldez's mid-table side searched for an equaliser.
It was a scrappy yet lively clash and Vinicius headed over Fede Valverde's cross and fired a near post effort off-target before the break.
Swedberg pulled Celta level with a calm finish in the 51st minute after a fine move from the Galicians, with former Barcelona defender Oscar Mingueza curling in a low cross for the midfielder to stroke home.
Vinicius had a goal ruled out for offside against Mbappe in the build-up as the second half continued with the same openness as the first.
Javier Manquillo made a brave block to deny Mbappe before Ancelotti sent on veteran midfielder Luka Modric to try and regain control of the match.
The 39-year-old Croatian, who became Real Madrid's oldest ever player ahead of 1950s and 1960s Hungarian great Ferenc Puskas, made an instant impact.
Less than three minutes after coming on, Modric produced a superb low pass to play in Vinicius, who slid Madrid in front past Vicente Guaita.
"It's a pleasure to coach Modric, to work with him, everything he's been able to achieve and is achieving, he deserves -- he's a top professional and a great guy," said Ancelotti.
Courtois thwarted Jonathan Bamba after the midfielder darted in behind Antonio Rudiger and tried to prod home.
Celta substitute Anastasios Douvikas should have levelled in stoppage time but rolled wide with just Courtois to beat.
"It's bittersweet because we went toe-to-toe with Real Madrid and we were better for much of the game, but we're left with the feeling once more that for our mistakes we let in two goals," said Celta midfielder Beltran.
"It would be easy to say 'this is Real Madrid', but (our) team was better... we lost three points, but I think we played a very good game."
Earlier, Athletic Bilbao moved provisionally fourth by thumping Espanyol 4-1. — AFP