Real Madrid got back on track with a comfortable win against 10-man Getafe at the Santiago Bernabeu this past weekend. It was a great warm up for the Champions League last-16 second leg against Paris Saint Germain on Tuesday.
It was far from the highest attendance of the season, with 55,000 at the Bernabeu, but Real Madrid dominated the match from pretty early on, having the vast majority of possession. That being said, Getafe had the first effort on target. Angel cut inside and hit a shot that was easy to gather for Keylor Navas.
Halfway through the first half, Los Blancos took control of the match as Isco’s knock-down fell for Gareth Bale, who fired into the corner of the net for a 1-0 lead. It was almost 2-0 a few minutes later, as Djene Dakonam almost was lucky not to score an own goal. Just before the half time whistle the lead was doubled as Cristiano Ronaldo picked up Karim Benzema’s great pass to slot the ball past the keeper.
After the break, it became an impossible task for Getafe as Loic Remy was given a red card for an arm in the face of Nacho. They gave it a go after that though, as they pulled a goal back from the penalty spot. Nacho brought down Molina and Portillo converted the spot kick.
Ronaldo made sure the game was safe though, as he leaped to head home Marcelo’s cross at the near post in order to ensure the three points for Los Blancos. This result has left Real Madrid still in 3rd place in La Liga, though Valencia are sticking with them all the way, only one point behind at the moment.
Zinedine Zidane and his side travel to Paris on Tuesday for what is undoubtedly the biggest match of the season so far. Los Blancos will hope to convert their 3-1 lead into progress to the quarter final stage.
