Real Madrid overcame an injury crisis to beat Getafe 2-0 at home on Tuesday and close the gap to La Liga leaders, Atlético Madrid, to five points.
Karim Benzema headed the champions in front on the hour mark and the France left-back Ferland Mendy doubled their lead six minutes later, starting the move with a bursting run through midfield before sliding in to knock home a cross from Marcelo.
The victory took them into second place, five points below Atlético, who drew 2-2 with Celta Vigo on Monday to end an eight-game winning streak but have two games in hand.
Real were missing nine first-team players through injury or suspension, which led Zinedine Zidane to field an unorthodox 3-4-3 formation, while handing the 20-year-old midfielder Marvin Park his first start for the club and giving defender Victor Chust his league debut from the bench.
“We didn’t prepare very much, but a little before the game we spoke about it and how to organise ourselves. The players interpreted it very well,” Zidane said of his side’s formation. “Considering we we’re playing a shape we weren’t used to, we put in a good performance and did a good job.”
In Italy, Juventus booked a place in the Coppa Italia final after holding visitors Internazionale to a 0-0 draw in their semi-final, second leg on Tuesday, sealing a date with either Napoli or Atalanta with a 2-1 success on aggregate.
“We deserved it having taken on a great team like Inter,” said the Juventus coach, Andrea Pirlo. “In such important matches our team is unlikely to make mistakes, they all played a great match. We changed something on a tactical level and they did well, we had the clearest opportunities.”
Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martínez had chances to get Inter back in the tie in the first half, while Cristiano Ronaldo came closest to adding to Juve’s aggregate advantage in the opening period, having scored both of their goals in the first leg.
After the break, Ronaldo turned on the style and was only denied a goal by two fine saves from Samir Handanovic.
Inter threw everything at Juve late on but the veteran keeper Gianluigi Buffon and his defence stood firm to secure a spot in the showpiece match against the winners of Wednesday’s semi, with Atalanta hosting Napoli after a 0-0 draw in the first leg.
“Inter showed we have narrowed the gap to Juventus,” said the Inter coach, Antonio Conte. “The ambition must be high, then the reality is something else and reality says that we are out. We have been knocked out of the cup against the team that has been winning [Serie A titles] for nine years and I think we deserved more.”
Source: The Guardian