Kylian Mbappe struck twice as Real Madrid held off Celta Vigo with a thrilling 3-2 win to stay within sight of La Liga leaders Barcelona.
After the Catalans scraped a comeback win at Valladolid on Saturday, Madrid survived a late Celta fightback to maintain the four-point gap ahead of next Sundays Clasico.
Defending champions Madrid , second, took a three-goal lead but were left clinging on at the Santiago Bernabeu against a Celta side seventh and hoping to qualify for European football next season.
Madrids Champions League defence crumbled and Los Blancos were also beaten in the Copa del Rey final against Barcelona last week, but Los Blancos are still hopeful of overhauling Hansi Flicks side in La Liga.
We had a very good first half but we fell apart, these things cant happen, its happened to us a lot, admitted Real Madrid midfielder Fede Valverde on the clubs television channel.