Vinicius Junior missed his second penalty in less than a month as Spanish champions Real Madrid lost 2-1 at home to Valencia, giving up valuable ground in LaLiga's title race.

Now with a game in hand, Hansi Flick's Barcelona are top on 66 points, three clear of Madrid in second and nine ahead of third-placed Atletico.

If Barca win against Real Betis later on Saturday, they will extend their lead to six points with eight games to go.

Madrid dominated possession throughout the game but wasted too many chances, with Valencia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili putting in a brilliant performance between the posts, including making a fine save to keep out Vinicius' first-half penalty.

Vinicius, who also missed a spot-kick when Madrid eliminated Atletico in the Champions League's last 16, had a weak kick blocked by Mamardashvili's legs after Cesar Tarrega fouled Kylian Mbappe in the ninth minute.

5 - #RealMadrid have missed five penalties this season in all competitions (11/16), their highest tally for missed penalties in a single campaign since at least 2013/14. Punishment. pic.twitter.com/V2WNtvBvPN
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) April 5, 2025

Defender Mouctar Diakhaby then opened the scoring for Valencia with a header from an Andre Almeida corner in the 15th minute.

Vinicius atoned for his penalty miss by scoring the equaliser from a corner in the 50th minute and Madrid pushed for the winner in the second half.

However, Valencia held on and took advantage of a quick counterattack five minutes into second-half stoppage time, as Hugo Duro's header stunned the Santiago Bernabeu.

Data debrief: Madrid made to rue misses

Madrid accumulated a huge total of 3.7 expected goals (xG) from their 21 shots on Saturday, compared to 0.81 xG for Valencia, who had 10 shots.

The last time they attempted more shots and lost at home in LaLiga was way back in January 2019, when they fired off 28 against Real Sociedad.

Vinicius now has nine goal involvements against Valencia after tucking in the equaliser, more than he has against any other team across all competitions.

But Madrid will think things could have been different if he hadn't spurned the chance to put them ahead early on – Los Blancos' five unsuccessful penalties this term are their most in a single season since 2013-14 (in all competitions).