A last-second goal from Karim Benzema earned Real Madrid a dramatic 1-1 draw at Valencia on Sunday night at the Mestalla.

A 78th minute score from Valencia's Carlos Soler looked like it would send Los Blancos into El Clasico on the heels of a defeat, but a late surge in second half stoppage time, culminating with Benzema's goal on the last touch of the match, will certainly provide a big boost going into the Camp Nou.

Coach Zinedine Zidane finally offered some rest to midfield stalwart Casemiro, with Fede Valverde, Luka Modric and Toni Kroos forming the centre of the pitch for Los Blancos. Gareth Bale found himself on the bench again, meaning a chance for Rodrygo up top, while in defence Nacho slotted into the uncustomary position of left-back.

Things were open from the start, with Madrid mostly on the front foot and firing a couple shots on goal through Benzema, Rodrygo and Kroos, but soon Valencia were working their way into it and a testing ball from Ferran Torres required a save from Thibaut Courtois.

Later on, Ferran latched onto a header that would have beaten Courtois off a Jose Gaya cross from the left, but he was unable to steer it on target. Those two would meet again right after the re-start when a giveaway led to a Valencia break, but Courtois got big and blocked the shot.

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Things shifted in the second half and it was Valencia who were creating the bulk of the chances, while Madrid were becoming predictable. Zidane looked for an attacking spark from his bench and turned to Bale and Vinicius, who replaced Isco and Rodrygo, respectively.

The change promoted a switch to a 4-3-3 from a 4-4-2 for Los Blancos in hopes of finding the game's first goal, but instead it went the way of the hosts, who took a 1-0 lead through Soler. A break from midfield was spearheaded by Rodrigo, who played wide right to Daniel Wass and the pullback pass fell perfectly for the trailing Soler, who had plenty of time and acre of space to fire in his shot for the goal.

The Valencia goal precipitated the final Madrid change, as forward Luka Jovic came on for Modric, paving the way for the frantic final minutes. Jovic thought he had levelled in stoppage time, but was correctly adjudged to be offside. That was followed by a Valencia chance for a second, but Courtois made an excellent save to keep it a one-goal affair.

The Belgian stopper then played a pivotal role on the visitors' goal, as Valencia goalkeeper Jaume Domenech could only block Courtois's stinging header off a corner kick. That led to a mad scramble, which ended with Benzema slamming the shot in from a few yards out to give Madrid a last-gasp point.