Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Real Madrid may not have had managed to get maximum points in their encounter with cross city rivals Atletico on Saturday but their position at the top of La Liga has been strengthened after Barcelona’s defeat to Malaga later the same evening.
Going into the weekend, Los Blancos were two points clear with a game in hand and Zinedine Zidane will be saying a big thanks to Malaga as they threw a spanner in Barcelona’s La Liga title tilt with the gap now extended to three.
It was a war of attrition at The Bernabeu as Pepe who scored the opening goal in the game ended up going off with broken ribs but not before he headed home a free kick from Toni Kroos seven minutes after the restart.
Atletico Madrid are not at the same level this season as they have been during the last three but are obviously no pushovers and there never say die attitude was no more apparent than on Saturday when Antoine Griezmann was on hand to earn Atleti a late equaliser.
The French international who is reportedly being tracked by Real slid home Angel Correa’s through ball to give Diego Simeone’s side a share of the points as he silenced the Bernabeu with just five minutes remaining.
Real will no doubt be disappointed that they could not hold out and Zinedine Zidane will be concerned that it was another off day for both Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo but on the balance of things they have moved another step closer to winning a first Spanish title since 2012.
3 points clear and a game in hand it very much is Real’s title to lose now, so much so that they could even afford to lose El Clasico later this month.
Here is all you need to know from Saturday
