In their first game after the international break, Villarreal were held to a 1-1 draw by current La Liga champions Real Madrid at the Estadio de la Ceramica on Saturday evening, allnigeriasoccer.com reports.

Following his late return from international duty with the Super Eagles and having trained with the squad just once on Friday afternoon, Samuel Chukwueze had to settle for a place on the bench.

Los Blancos took the lead in the second minute as Mariano out-jumped his marker to plant a header past goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo and the goal was given after a VAR review although the flag had gone up for offside.

With Villarreal struggling to break open the Real Madrid defence, manager Unai Emery brought on the Nigeria international on the hour mark and it proved to be an inspired substitution.

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