BARCELONA 16 April (Online): Real Madrid were made to wait, but eventually conjured a stylish 2-0 victory at Cadiz on Saturday in La Liga, ahead of their Champions League trip to face Chelsea.<\/p>\n
Nacho Fernandez and Marco Asensio struck to help champions Madrid cut Barcelona’s lead at the top of the table to 10 points.<\/p>\n
Both sides hit the woodwork in the first half but Madrid overran their opponents, with only Cadiz goalkeeper David Gil keeping them at bay.<\/p>\n
Eventually, when it seemed they had tried everything, Nacho broke the deadlock in the 72nd minute with a drive from distance, with Asensio adding another four minutes later.<\/p>\n
“Good attitude, good commitment, good combinations, the team played very well,” said Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti.<\/p>\n
“It was a game that could have been a trap \u2013 the players were concentrating well, and we played well.”<\/p>\n
Ancelotti rang the changes at the Nuevo Mirandilla to rest players for the visit to Stamford Bridge for the quarter-final second leg, including veteran midfielders Toni Kroos and Luka Modric and winger Vinicius Junior.<\/p>\n
Madrid suffered a 3-2 home defeat by Villarreal last weekend before the 2-0 first leg win over Chelsea, and Ancelotti admitted his team were not motivated enough.<\/p>\n
On this occasion they arrived with the right mindset and on another day would have ended the first half several goals in front.<\/p>\n
Gil made stunning saves to deny Karim Benzema, Rodrygo and Asensio.
\nMadrid was racking up the shots and, finally, their 26th effort of the night went in.<\/p>\n
It came from an unlikely source, in veteran defender Nacho, who drove home from the edge of the box into the bottom corner.<\/p>\n
With Cadiz’s resistance broken, Madrid quickly added another.
\nFede Valverde carried the ball forward and fed Asensio, who finished clinically.<\/p>\n
It was a satisfying evening for Ancelotti and his team, leaving them in good shape to continue their European adventure, aiming to finish the job in London and reach the semi-finals.<\/p>\n
Despite his other rotations, Ancelotti left Benzema on the pitch for the full 90 minutes, a surprise given he has had fitness issues this season.
\n“I saw him doing so well, he was so fresh,” the coach told reporters.<\/p>\n
“I told him I’ll start you and when you are tired, I’ll take you off, but he was good until the end.<\/p>\n
“He was a bit sad not to have scored, but he combined spectacularly with Rodrygo and it was a pleasure to watch him \u2013 it was hard for me to take him off because I wanted to enjoy his quality on the pitch.”<\/p>\n
Defeat leaves Cadiz 15th; four points clear of the drop zone.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere Inaki Williams scored twice as Athletic Bilbao beat Real Sociedad 2-0 in the Basque derby, giving a fiery San Mames something to celebrate after the team’s Copa del Rey semi-final exit.<\/p>\n
La Real had the chance to tighten their grip on fourth place after Villarreal, sixth, stumbled to a 2-1 home defeat by relegation-battling Real Valladolid, but fell short in Bilbao.<\/p>\n
Real Betis beat struggling Espanyol 3-1 to move fifth, three points behind Imanol Alguacil’s side.<\/p>\n
Real Sociedad goalkeeper Alex Remiro made good saves from brothers Nico and Inaki Williams, before the latter broke the deadlock when he stabbed home from a corner.<\/p>\n
Inaki smashed home his second goal after 70 minutes, driving into the box and rifling past Remiro from a tight angle.<\/p>\n
Alexander Sorloth should have pulled one back for the visitors but inexplicably slammed over the bar from point-blank range.<\/p>\n
Barrenetxea followed suit with another huge miss when completely unmarked in the box late on, leaving Athletic fans laughing in the stands at their luck.<\/p>\n
Los Leones celebrated with their fans at the end, the victory making amends for their recent cup exit against Osasuna.<\/p>\n
Athletic stayed seventh but ensured the race for European football grew tighter.<\/p>\n
“It was important to win at home, after the cup day,” said their coach Ernesto Valverde.<\/p>\n
“It’s a derby, we know the pressure there is in these type of games, it was a very tense match.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BARCELONA 16 April (Online): Real Madrid were made to wait, but eventually conjured a stylish 2-0 victory at Cadiz on Saturday in La Liga, ahead of their Champions League trip to face Chelsea. Nacho Fernandez and Marco Asensio struck to help champions Madrid cut Barcelona’s […]<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":76089,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76088","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-sports-news"],"yoast_head":"\n