BEVERLY HILLS, May 14, (THEWILL) – The holders of La Liga title from last season, Real Madrid kept their title defence hopes alive by winning a potentially tricky match against Granada 4-1.
The victory catapulted Los Blancos to within two points of longtime League leaders Atletico Madrid in the Spanish top flight standings as the 2020/2021 season winds down to a tight end, especially for these top two sides.
Going to the Estadio Nuevo Los Cermenes, Real were well aware that only a win would suffice to keep their title contention alive. This was especially clear after city rivals, Diego Simeone’s Atletico beat Real Sociedad on Wednesday to open a comfortable lead at the top of the table.
In the end, Zidane’s charges acquitted themselves with a commanding victory to keep the chase hot, even as the challenge posed by the Catalan side, Barcelona, of the top trio faded off with their disappointing 3-3 draw against Levante on Tuesday. The three points from Real’s victory takes their total to 78 points, which is perfectly poised at two points behind Atletico Madrid and two ahead of Barcelona with only two matches left in the season.
Zidane will be pleased with the outcome as they can sustain the pressure on Los Rojiblancos until the end even though injuries to Dani Carvajal, Ferland Mendy, Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane forced him to introduce Miguel Gutierrez at left back and Marvin Park at right back in a tricky fixture that they had to win.
For their own good and the result the team needed, both youngsters produced a mature performance that each one topped with an assist apiece. Gutierrez provided the assist for Luca Modric’s opener while Park was there to help Rodrygo make it two for Real late in the first half.
It provided a clear sign of the depth of the Real squad and will give Zidane a lot to consider, if he remains at the club. One player Zidane will not need to worry much about is the Croatian magician, Modric, with his man of the match display. He will be out of contract by the season’s end but it is performances like Thursday’s that will earn the 35-year-old a contract extension should he prefer to remain at the Santiago Bernabeu.
It will be a race to the end now between the two Madrid clubs. Atletico’s final two league games are at home to 11th-placed Osasuna and away to 18th-placed Valladolid neither of which are potentially challenging on paper. Real, on the other hand, go to ninth-placed Athletic Bilbao and host seventh-placed Villarreal on the final day of the season, which could be tricky.
As things stand, the title is still very much in Atletico’s hands and it is theirs to win or lose. However, the holders have put themselves in the perfect position to pounce should Simeone’s side buckle under the pressure that Madrid’s breathing down their necks has put them, in either of those remaining fixtures.
Madrid are unbeaten in their last 16 games in La Liga, the best current unbeaten run in the competition and matching their best run in a single league campaign under Zidane, achieved in the 2016/2017 campaign.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
