A €25m bargain! Carlos Espi saves Real Madrid once again with season first

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Matthew Judge | Editor

Carlos Espi achieved a fantastic feat after rescuing Real Madrid once again with a late winner at Elche on Tuesday evening.

The 21-year-old came off the bench with five minutes of normal time left to play to fire Los Blancos to a nervy 3-2 win in La Liga.

Real had led 2-0 thanks to an own goal from Matias Dituro and a strike from Kylian Mbappe, before a second-half salvo from hosts Elche.

Abiel Osorio and Fer Nino made it 2-2 with 83 minutes on the clock as Real looked on course to throw away more points in La Liga.

Real lost 1-0 at Real Betis earlier this month - a match in which France superstar Mbappe had a penalty saved by goalkeeper Alvaro Valles.

However, Espi donned his cape once more when finding the back of the net in stoppage time at the Estadio Manuel Martinez Valero.

It is the second time the summer signing has saved Real this season, having scored a 90th minute winner at Espanyol in August.

And according to OptaJose, Espi is the first player to score two stoppage-time winners from the 90th minute onwards in La Liga this season.

Real boss Jose Mourinho was full of praise for Espi after his Elche winner, saying: “He is doing well, making an important contribution to the team.

“He has a problem in front of him, which is a player who isn't a normal player (Mbappe), and playing with both together isn't easy.”

Espi is already looking like a bargain at €25m

Espi emerged as a player to watch after scoring 11 goals in 25 La Liga games for Levante last season. He was named as the league's Best Under-23 player as a result.

With Gonzalo Garcia on the cusp of joining Fulham for €40million (£34.2m), Real quickly signed Espi as his replacement for just €25m.

And the fee is already looking modest with Espi well-poised to continue his heroics for Real, who travel to Atletico Madrid for the derby on Sunday.

STATS

Carlos Espí

F (C)

Real Madrid

Carlos Espí

F (C)

Real Madrid

All Tournaments

2026/27

• 5

  Games

• 2

  Goals

• 0

  Assists

View all stats

Only two Real players have scored more league goals than Espi (2) so far this season - Mbappe (7) and England talisman Jude Bellingham (3).

Real moved level with Barcelona at the top of La Liga by beating Elche, although their rivals have a game in hand against Racing Santander at Camp Nou today.

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