Real Madrid continued their struggle on Sunday by failing to secure a win for the third consecutive match, settling for a 2-2 draw against visiting Elche in the 13th round of the Spanish La Liga, regaining the top spot but only by a single point ahead of their traditional rival Barcelona.

Real fell behind twice after Alex Vecinas (53rd minute) opened the scoring for Elche, only to be equalized by Dean Hawson (78th minute). The Uruguayan Alvaro Rodriguez then grabbed the lead for his team again (84th), but Englishman Jude Bellingham brought the Royal Club back level (87th).

Despite the draw, Real regained the top spot with a one-point lead over second-placed Barcelona, while Elche rose to 16 points in 11th place.

Real head coach Xabi Alonso made four changes to his lineup compared to the last match before the international break, which ended in a goalless draw against Rayo Vallecano following a recent loss to Liverpool (0-1) in the UEFA Champions League. He rested Uruguayan Federico Valverde, French Eduardo Camavinga, Brazilian Vinicius Junior, and Moroccan Ibrahim Diaz, replacing them with Englishman Trent Alexander-Arnold, Dani Ceballos, Gonzalo Garcia, and Brazilian Rodrigo.

Contrary to expectations, Elche was the better side at the start of the match. The hosts had a golden chance after Alvaro Carreras lost the ball in a dangerous area, with Rafa Mir firing a shot that was saved by Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois in the last moment (17th minute).

Real came out of their cautious start to win a corner delivered expertly by Alexander-Arnold, which Raúl Asensio headed just wide of the goal (21st).

The “Merengues” had a dangerous opportunity after Turkish player Arda Guler exchanged some excellent passes with Garcia on the edge of the penalty box before shooting with his left foot, but the ball went just over the crossbar (25th).

Elche goalkeeper Iñaki Peña shined by saving two attempts in less than five minutes from French forward Kylian Mbappé that could have led to a goal for the visitors (33rd and 38th).

Elche then continued to show their strong presence in the game, with Diangana delivering a brilliant ball to Silva inside the box, who fired a powerful left-footed shot that Courtois again brilliantly saved (38th).

Elche turned their persistent threat into the opening goal with a marvelous finish following a stunning backheel pass from German Valera to Alex Vecinas, who struck the ball off the post straight into the net (55th).

Alonso quickly reacted after conceding, making three substitutions by bringing on Vinicius, Valverde, and Camavinga to replace Rodrigo, Fran Garcia, and Ceballos (57th).

The changes improved Real’s movement, almost equalizing when Mark Aguado accidentally deflected an Alexander-Arnold cross toward his own goal, but the post denied the goal (78th).

Real finally equalized following the corner taken by Alexander-Arnold, which was redirected inside the six-yard box by Bellingham to find Hawson’s foot, who followed it into the net (78th).

Elche refused to yield and once again took the lead after a wonderful effort from former Real player Rodriguez, who beat Asensio and shot the ball past Courtois (84th).

The match’s dramatic events continued as Bellingham rescued his team from defeat by scoring the equalizer three minutes before the end of regulation time (87th).

Elche’s Victor Chust was sent off in the final moments due to a strong challenge (90+6).