On Saturday, Real Madrid fans showed their appreciation for Cristiano Ronaldo winning the Ballon d’Or with a lovely display while the striker paraded the trophy around the Bernabéu. The star repaid their appreciation by scoring the first goal against Granada, with Karim Benzema adding another. The 2-0 win puts Real Madrid at the top of the La Liga table. Until the end of the weekend, at least.
This season features a closely fought battle in Spain, with the race for first proving to be one of the tightest in Europe. Real Madrid are currently on 53 points, lifting them above Barcelona and Atlético Madrid. Both sides stumbled last time out, with Barcelona unable to do more than draw 1-1 at Levante, and Atlético being held by the same scoreline at home to Sevilla. Add to that the match two weeks ago, with the two sides met in a goalless draw, and the door was thrown open for Real Madrid.
La Liga’s third placed side took advantage of their opponents’ slips to close a six-point gap. Real Madrid are unbeaten in their last eleven league matches, drawing just once in that time. They’ve scored an astonishing 40 goals in those 11 matches, taking them to 60 on the season, with Ronaldo scoring 22 of those himself.
This revived Real will still need to work hard should they want to challenge for the La Liga title. Atléti face relegation-threatened Rayo Vallecano on Sunday, while Barcelona host Málaga, who’ve won just once on the road. But with the form Real Madrid is in, they just might overcome their slow start to the season to claim yet another domestic title.
