Zinedine Zidane's side move provisionally to within
a point of the Catalans, with Luis Enrique's men
now needing to react after losing their last two
Primera Division games
COMMENT
The race for La Liga is back on. Real Madrid moved
to within a point of leaders Barcelona by beating
Getafe 5-1 on Saturday and although the Catalans
have a game in hand, Luis Enrique's side face a
huge test at home to Valencia on Sunday as their
season threatens to implode.
Barca looked to have wrapped up the title long ago,
but the champions have picked up just one point in
their last three league fixtures: a 2-2 draw at
Villarreal, a 2-1 defeat to Madrid in the Clasico at
Camp Nou and a 1-0 loss at Real Sociedad last
weekend.
On top of that, Barca's Champions League hopes
were ended on Wednesday night with a 2-0 defeat
at Atletico. Suddenly, nothing looks guaranteed for
the Blaugrana, with both capital clubs now within
touching distance in the Primera Division.
After securing their place in the last four of the
Champions League with a thrilling comeback
against Wolfsburg on Tuesday night, Madrid made
light work of Getafe on Saturday. Warned by Zidane
in the build-up that they could not afford to take
their lowly city rivals for granted, Real ran out 5-1
winners at the Coliseum.
Five goals and five different scorers as Karim
Benzema, Isco, Gareth Bale, James Rodriguez and
Cristiano Ronaldo all netted. Meanwhile, Casemiro
and Luka Modric were rested, while Zidane
substituted Dani Carvajal, Bale and Benzema with
the scoreline safe at 3-0.
So suddenly, a season which looked like ending with
nothing sees Madrid in serious contention for two
trophies: the Champions League and La Liga. And
Zidane wants his team to win it all, something that
will be music to the ears of president Florentino
Perez.
"La Liga is important," the Frenchman said after
the win on Saturday. "We will go to sleep one point
behind, but more important than that is the work
we are doing. We are just taking it one game at a
time."
And he added: "I wouldn't take winning the
Champions League and not La Liga. I can't do that.
We are going to keep working - and we are playing
every three days."
FULL STORY | Madrid hit Getafe for five
Madrid are now at home to Villarreal on Wednesday
night in their next tough test in the Primera
Division, but before that they will watch with
interest as title rivals Barca and Atletico both play
on Sunday.
Luis Enrique's men are at home to Valencia in a
potential banana skin at Camp Nou. Because even
though they lost 7-0 on their last visit, the Mestalla
outfit remain dangerous and have improved since
Gary Neville left and Pako Ayestaran took over. It
is also a fixture Barca lost (3-2) in the 2013-14
season when they missed out on La Liga to Atleti.
"We have to forget about the Champions League
because we can't do anything about that," Luis
Enrique said on Saturday. "The team look good to
me, they have recovered, although it is difficult to
get over the disappointment. But we are
professionals and now we have another challenge:
to repeat Liga and Copa."
Atleti, meanwhile, are at home to Granada on
Sunday and a win in that match will see Diego
Simeone's side move back above Madrid in La Liga,
with Barca in action afterwards against Valencia.
"We have a very clear situation," Simeone said on
Saturday. "We have to win and then wait and see
what Barcelona do. The only part we can resolve is
beating Granada."
If that happens, Atleti will be level at the top of the
table, with Real only one point further back as
Barca take to the field against Valencia. So the
title race is well and truly back on, the pressure
very much on the Liga leaders and after their latest
slip-up on Wednesday, this time the champions
really do need a reaction.
