Zinedine Zidane returned to Real Madrid, and it was like he never left.
The Frenchman made sweeping changes in his first starting lineup, bringing Keylor Navas, Gareth Bale, Isco, and Marcelo all back into the 11 as Madrid stormed to a 2-0 win over Celta Vigo at the Bernabeu.
All four players had seen diminished playing time under Santiago Solari, blamed by fans and media for the team struggles, but Zidane gave them a reprieve, and it bore immediate fruit. Isco scored the opener in the 62nd minute to put Madrid up for good, and Bale put the game away 15 minutes later. The defense, meanwhile, held Celta Vigo to just one shot on target as they fall for the fifth time in their last six matches.
The win pulled third-placed Madrid within two points of cross-town rivals Atletico Madrid in second, an important result that preceded a shocking 2-0 loss by Atletico as they fell on the road at Athletic Bilbao. The game was scoreless - right in Atletico’s wheelhouse - until the 73rd minute when an awkward Atleti turnover in their own defensive third led to an Inaki Williams tap-in to break the deadlock. Kenan Kodro finished it off in the 85th minute and Atleti is now looking over its shoulder at Real Madrid just two back.
Meanwhile, a few places back, Alaves pulled within one point of a Champions League place as they topped Huesca 3-1 behind a brace from Jonathan Calleri. His opener in the 11th minute was cancelled out minutes later by Ezequiel Avila to make it 1-1, and the scoreline stayed there until the 80th minute. Substitute striker John Guidetti put Alaves up with 10 to go, and then Calleri bagged his brace six minutes later to put the game away.
Finally, Girona jumped Leganes in the table with a 2-0 win thanks to a double by Portu, continuing the club’s rise up the table. They had fallen as far as 16th, but a five-game stretch with three wins and a draw has brought them back up to 13th and within two points of a top-half spot.