Real Madrid C.F. Closes in on FC Barcelona for Finals

Steven Petrov

The Paw Print

Real Madrid C.F. 3:1 

Malaga CF

The team from Madrid managed to win its home game against Malaga CF on Saturday, April 18^th and by that kept its distance of only 2 points behind the current leaders in Primera, FC Barcelona. The leaders from Barcelona won their match against Valencia before Real Madrid had to go out for its match, which put a lot of pressure on the “Los Blancos” from Madrid. They knew that only a must-win will keep them close enough in the fight for the championship in Spain.

The goals for Real Madrid scored were Sergio Ramos in the 25^th minute, James Rodriguez in the 69^th minute, and Cristiano Ronaldo in the 92^nd minute, after the world’s best player for last year missed a penalty in the 67^th. Malaga’s forward Juanmi managed to put his team back in the position to get at least a point out of their visit at Santiago Bernabeu, but the visitors failed at the task, and Ronaldo sealed “Los Blancos” win in the closing minutes of the game.

In the beginning of the game, the welsh attacking superstar of Real Madrid, Garret Bale got injured and was substituted by the Mexican forward, Javier Hernandez (Chicharito) in the 5^th minute. The other unpleasant news for Real Madrid’s manager, Carlo Ancelotti came in the beginning of the second half when the creation midfielder, Luca Modric got injured as well. The official statement by the club’s medical staff is that Modric has sprained a ligament in his knee and will be out for the next 5-6 weeks. This means that he will not be able to play in some of the most important games of the season, the Champions League’s ¼ and ½ finals, as well as the remaining games in the Spanish La Liga. On Wednesday, April 22^nd “Los Blancos” are going to face their city-rivals from Athletico Madrid in the second leg of the Champions League ¼ finals, which will determine who will advance to the ½ finals. The potential loss of two of the most influential players on the team, Modric and Bale would definitely make “Los Blancos” task much more difficult. The first leg of this city-rivals clash in Champions League was played at “Vicente Calderone,” the home of Athletico and Real was unable to score the so important “away” goal that they needed. The game ended 0:0, but considering the fact that the 2^nd leg will be played at “Santiago Bernabeu,” Real Madrid CF must be really cautious not to allow any goals to be scored against them, because of the “away goal” rule. For any goal that Athletico Madrid scores, the home side from Real, would have to score 2 if they want to go through. This puts Athletic in a much better position before the game, where a win or a draw will make Athletico go through, and Real Madrid CF, needs a win if it wants to play at the Champions league’s ½ finals.