Real Madrid achieved a suffered victory against Osasuna 2-0 and adds three points that place him 5 behind Barcelona, before the leader plays on Sunday against Cádiz.
The white team suffered in many moments of the game the push of the always tough Osasunauntil he was able to unbalance the score in the final stretch, with goals from the Uruguayan Federico Valverde (79) and Marco Asensio (90+1).
The Uruguayan midfielder seems to have recovered the high level he displayed until the World Cup breaka, great news for Real Madrid before visiting Liverpool on Tuesday in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16.
The white team has 51 points, five behind Barcelona, that this Sunday will host Cádiz (16th) at the Camp Nou.
“It was an even match, competitive, well played by both teamss. The team has played well, they have suffered when they had to suffer, they have looked for the right moment to score… We are very satisfied”, declared the white coach Carlo Ancelotti.
In a very intense and entertaining first part, Vinicius had the first goal chance, in a bad transfer from Jon Moncayola to Sergio Heredia, which the Navarrese goalkeeper fixed by beating the Brazilian striker one-on-one (10).
But Osasuna not only stood up to Real Madrid, but also surpassed them in many moments of the first part and had good chances to score, such as the two that Croatian Ante Budimir had (14 and 43).
The struggle between the two teams continued after the break, with Vinicius losing another one-on-one against Heredia after making a spectacular personal move (57) and the local response, with a shot at the post by Moi Gómez (61).
Moncayola was also very close to scoring, in a distant shot that went just touching the post (65) and shortly after Vinicius missed his third one-on-one against Heredia, in another mistake by the local defense (73).
In the end, the one who came to the rescue for Real Madrid was Valverde, in the umpteenth dangerous action on the left flank by Vinicius, whose cross behind the penalty spot found the Uruguayan, who entering from the second line finished off the net with his right foot (79).
After the goal, Real Madrid dedicated themselves to holding the ball against an Osasuna that ran out of strength, and who ended up conceding the second, not by Vinicius, whose goal was disallowed for offside (89), but by Marco Asensio, taking advantage of the assist of the young Uruguayan Álvaro Rodríguez (90+1).
– The Royal Society clicks –
The Real Sociedad, third in the classification of Spanish LaLigamissed a good opportunity to keep up with the leading duo by drawing at home (1-1) with Celta (13th).
The San Sebastián team took the lead on the scoreboard with a goal in minute 5 by Mikel Oyarzabal.
Celta de Vigo would end up tied in the discount when he also played with one less.
The Galician team had lost the Peruvian Renato Tapia in the 75th minute for a double yellow card, just seven after coming into play.
After a foul on Martín Zubimendi, Tapia received a yellow, to which he added a second in his protests.
But surprisingly, with one less, Celta managed to equalize in added time, with an own goal from Frenchman Robin Le Normand, who, after a shot from Iago Aspas, put the ball into his goal on his clearance attempt (90+3).
A Betis also gets into the fight for the Champions League (5) that seems to have overcome the slope of January and defeated Valladolid 2-1 (14th).
– Betis win, Villarreal lose –
Juanmi Jiménez (2) and Sergio Canales, penalty (45+4) they scored the goals for the Verdiblancos, while the Canadian Cyle Larin scored for the Pucelanos the provisional equalizer (30).
With 37 points, the Andalusian team is just one away from the Champions Leaguecurrently scored by Atlético, who will host Athletic Club on Sunday (7th).
On the other hand, the one who is moving away is Villarreal (9th), who lost (4-2) in his visit to a Mallorca (8th) that continues on an upward trajectory.
The Zimbabwean Tino Kadeware (20), Dani Rodríguez (45 and 56) and the Kosovar Vedat Muriqi (63) scored the goals for the team coached by the Mexican Javier Aguirre against a Villarreal that despite being down to 10 men in the 21st minute due to the expulsion of Manu Trigueros, was able to equalize on two occasions with goals from José Luis Morales (43) and the Nigerian Samu Chukwueze (50).
