[ad_1]
Real Madrid want one victory to safe La Liga after they held off a second-half comeback from Granada on Monday to win 2-1 and transfer 4 factors away from Barcelona. With two video games left, Madrid shall be topped champions in the event that they beat Villarreal at dwelling on Thursday no matter how Barcelona fare on the Camp Nou in opposition to Osasuna. But they had been made to sweat by a Granada workforce which are gunning for Europe and have been arguably the division’s shock of the season after being promoted from second tier final 12 months.
Ferland Mendy and Karim Benzema seemed to have set Madrid heading in the right direction for a cushty win at Los Carmenes however Granada had been remodeled after the break and Darwin Machis’s 50th-minute strike gave them hope.
An more and more nervous Madrid had been clinging on by the top and wanted Sergio Ramos to clear one shot off the road as Zinedine Zidane’s facet dug in for a ninth consecutive victory.
“Our vision when we start every season is to win the league,” mentioned Zidane. “There are two games left. We are close but we’re not there yet.”
When the ultimate whistle blew, Zinedine Zidane roared with reduction and Ramos clenched his fists after coming via their hardest take a look at because the restart.
“We can’t relax, we’re a bit closer but we have to carry on,” mentioned Ramos afterwards.
“We let our guard down here a bit on the second half. We won the first half and lost the second and maybe that’s a warning for us. We have to make sure we don’t repeat that mistake.”
Madrid might win La Liga for the third time in eight years on the Alfredo di Stefano Stadium on Thursday evening. “It would mean a lot,” mentioned Ramos.
“It’s the prize for consistency over the whole year. Maybe we had a period of reflection during the suspension and we came back and reacted. We’re in the race and hopefully on Thursday we can celebrate.”
If Madrid slip up in opposition to Villarreal, they are going to nonetheless have a second probability on Sunday once they end at Leganes whereas Barcelona go to Alaves.
Machis’s purpose was the primary Madrid have conceded in six matches however few would have seen it coming after the primary half.
Madrid scored twice in six minutes, with each objectives coming from breaks down their left.
Mendy had house in entrance of him and saved going, accelerating between Victor Diaz and Dimitri Foulquier earlier than firing excessive and into the roof of the online from an acute angle.
The second purpose got here down the identical facet, Isco’s backheel permitting Luka Modric to modify left to Benzema, who this time minimize inside Diaz and shot into the far nook.
Madrid cruised via the remainder of the half, pushing the ball round at will, however consolation maybe created complacency and Granada improved after the break.
Machis pulled a purpose again, placing via the legs of Courtois after Casemiro was dispossessed in midfield and Madrid had been rattled as Granada started to dictate play.
A scramble in Madrid’s six-yard field noticed a number of gamers hacking on the ball in panic and Courtois was twice required to make sensible saves late on.
The closest Granada got here was when the ball fell to Ramon Azeez on the again publish and he fired in direction of the close to publish with Courtois stranded however Ramos was on the road to clear.
Promoted
Earlier, Villarreal’s hopes of Champions League soccer had been dashed after they misplaced 2-1 at dwelling to Real Sociedad to substantiate that fourth-placed Sevilla will be part of Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Real Madrid within the competitors subsequent season.
Villarreal stay fifth, three factors forward of Getafe and Real Sociedad, with all three hoping to safe a spot within the Europa League. Getafe drew 0-Zero in opposition to Alaves.
Topics talked about on this article
[ad_2]
Source link
