Sid Lowe's match report
So Real Madrid draw level with Barcelona at the top of the table once more, and still with that crucial game in hand. Next they host Sevilla, before away trips to Celta Vigo and Malaga to finish the season. Granada, already relegated, put up no resistance in the first half but played well in the second, at least. That’s all from me, thanks for reading.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barcelona | 36 | 74 | 84 |
| 2 | Real Madrid | 35 | 57 | 84 |
| 3 | Atletico Madrid | 36 | 41 | 74 |
| 4 | Sevilla | 36 | 18 | 69 |
| 5 | Villarreal | 36 | 21 | 63 |
Updated
Full-time: Granada 0-4 Real Madrid
And that’s that.
90+1 min Two minutes to be added. Granada work it around the box and create what might be their final chance: Entrena fires a volley wide.
90 min Foulquier speeds down the right, but he’s a little too eager and runs the ball off the pitch before he can get his cross in. Granada are pressing for the goal which their play probably deserves, but no luck.
88 min Granada’s Ramos goes very close with a bouncing shot from the edge of the box which whistles just past Casilla’s left post – the goalkeeper was beaten.
86 min Morata gets a few painful studs on his left foot from Angban, and a minute later shoves the midfielder over in return. Fouls but no cards.
83 min Mariano slides in Benzema on the left of the box who bends a delicious curling effort just wide of the far post.
82 min Granada seem determined to finish this game on the up. Entrena, who has been brought on as Tony Adams’ final change, wins a corner from a deflected shot. From the corner Granada pile on the pressure and Adrián Ramos works space for a great chance on an angle, but Casilla saves with his legs.
79 min Granada slice Real open with a fantastic counterattack, and when Adrián Ramos is dispossessed inside the box it falls perfectly for Hongla to slot in to a half-open goal, and he must score – but digs it over the bar!
78 min James is rugby tackled to the ground by Uche, and a minute later Mariano is tripped over. The second foul offers James a chance to whip in a dangerous ball but Ingeson – who has been pretty good today, considering – gets in before Benzema can have a free header at goal.
76 min Mariano is Zidane’s final substitute, replacing the impressive Vazquez.
75 min Lovely football by Granada all of a sudden. Cuenca works a one-two and whips a low delivery across the goal but can’t quite find Adrián Ramos, who would have had a tap in.
72 min Benzema is released down the left. He stops, turns, and picks out Morata via a clever flick from the brilliant James Rodriguez, but the Spanish striker half-volleys just wide. Real have been impressively wasteful in this second period.
69 min Isco replaces Casemiro, whose main contribution has been wasting some glorious chances. He is immediately ordered to take off a necklace. Sunday league stuff from the midfielder.
68 min The chances are flowing for Real right now. This one is a simple finish for Ramos from six yards but somehow he steers the ball the wrong side of the post with the Granada defence and goalkeeper stationary. Benzema then has a swipe from 20 yards, but it’s blocked excellently by a sliding Ingason.
66 min Vazquez drives forward again – the 25-year-old has enjoyed himself today – and sees his long-range effort parried away by Ochoa.
64 min A whipped corner finds Sergio Ramos, or rather he leaps to meet the delivery, but his forceful header is straight at Ochoa who reacts well to keep it out.
63 min Two very different chances, one for each side. First the former Barça winger Cuenca tricks his way to the byline before floating a beautiful cross for someone to attack, but Granada don’t have the numbers in the box and Casilla can catch. A moment later Real have almost too many in the opposite area and when it falls kindly for someone to shoot it’s the wrong man, and Casemiro slams wide from eight yards.
Updated
60 min Morata has been bumped to the centre of the trio of players behind Benzema with Vazquez to his right and James on the left.
59 min Zidane makes a change: Asensio comes off, Benzema comes on. Not exactly music to Granada ears.
Updated
58 min Foulquier was again roasted by Vazquez one-on-one there, which leaves me wondering why he isn’t being given more (any) help from his midfield.
Updated
57 min Granada are playing some decent stuff inside Real’s half. Uche almost releases Adrián Ramos in the penalty area but his low pass is cut out by Sergio Ramos. Real pinch it and quickly break, and the constantly dangerous Vazquez fires into the side netting from a tight angle.
@lawrenceostlere 2nd half questions: Will James stay with RM? How long will Granada be in Segunda División? Will Casemiro or S.Ramos earn a yellow first?
— Chris Rogers (@CMRforall) May 6, 2017
All valid questions. 1) I think he will but I would like to see him in the Premier League, where I think he would be one of those Clasico fringe players who immediately becomes the best player in England. 2) A while, based on this season’s showing. Choice of new manager will be key. 3) Granada are enjoying some possession right now, making both likely. I’ll plump for Ramos, he looks fired up.
53 min Sergio Ramos powers forward after pinching the ball in his own half and drives through the middle of the pitch. He passes to Asensio on the edge of the box, but the winger is offside. Ramos could well have gone on himself there and scored one hell of a goal.
50 min Uche tries a speculative shot from range which bobbles wearily wide of the Real goal.
48 min The Manchester United loanee Andreas Pereira hasn’t had many chances to shine tonight, but now he gets on the ball and speeds forwards, dancing away from a couple of tackles as he goes. Granada work it for Ramos up front who wins a corner from his deflected shot, but it comes to nothing.
The second half is under way. Tony Adams has made another substitution with David Lombán replacing Krhin in midfield.
At half-time on Sky Sports, Robert Pires has been talking up Alvaro Morata as a potential Premier League striker. Remember this?
This chap, in particular, has been running this game.
James Rodriguez's first half by numbers vs. Granada:
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) May 6, 2017
95% pass accuracy
43 passes
2 crosses
2 shots
2 goals
Easy peasy. pic.twitter.com/Wij9zZ13eS
He has not.
@lawrenceostlere 44:30 in, and has Casilla had to stop even a single shot yet from Granada? I can't recall one.
— Chris Rogers (@CMRforall) May 6, 2017
Half-time: Granada 0-4 Real Madrid
And that’s the last action of a totally one-sided half.
45 min A spectacular miss by Casemiro! The buildup is all fluid runs and slick passing, Real weaving in and out of Granada’s fractured defence, and when Vazquez’s shot hits Ochoa in the chest, Casemiro is left with a tap in. But somehow the Brazilian mistakes a nine iron for his putter, skying the ball over the bar with the goal empty.
42 min Vazquez cuts inside from the right side of the box on to his left and cracks a fizzing shot against the top of the crossbar. Not great one-on-one defending by Fouquier, there.
41 min When the throw-in comes to nothing Real counterattack ominously, but James is beaten by a classy Ingason tackle on the edge of the box.
40 min Free-kick for Granada on the right side and they take it quickly, switching the play and winning a throw-in deep down Real’s left.
“Why is Ramos playing?” emails Nick Shearer. “He is a magnificent bastard, but didn’t he get sent off v Barca? Pretty sure he played the last Liga match too. Perhaps Sid can explain the arcane workings of the Spanish suspension process...” I believe he actually missed the game against Deportivo, but magnificent bastard might be the perfect description of Ramos. If you thought he might be given a rest tonight like Cristiano, well he is enjoying a 90-minute rest somewhere near the centre circle right now.
Goal Granada make the foolish error of attacking and when they lose the ball Asensio powers through the middle of the pitch with it glued to his left foot. He checks on the edge of the box before feeding Alvaro Morata to his left, who shrugs away from his marker before powering a high finish over Ochoa. Another well-taken goal by the striker.
Goal! Granada 0-4 Real Madrid (Morata, 34 min)
This is getting silly.
Goal A flowing move by Real starts from their own half with quick one-touch passes. They work it to the right of the box for Danilo bursting towards the byline. He cuts it back to the penalty spot where Alvaro Morata is arriving, and the striker slams a first-time shot against the bar and just over Ochoa’s goalline. Cracking finish.
Updated
Goal! Granada 0-3 Real Madrid (Morata, 30 min)
A lovely goal, this.
29 min What do we think of La Liga’s head-to-head system for settling the title should two teams finish level? On the one hand it makes sense for a league with two teams so far above the rest, but on the other hand my more sadistic side would like to see Ronaldo, Benzema and company out there needing to score eight goals to go top on goal difference.
26 min It comes to nothing and Real are quickly on the attack. James swings in two dangerous crosses from the left but both are cleared by Hongla when Morata was lurking on his shoulder.
25 min Granada have a corner!
24 min Granada have the ball!
If you’d like to read more on Barcelona’s comprehensive win over Villarreal earlier:
21 min Casemiro almost releases Asensio, who has been flitting around on the fringes so far, but the pass is cut out before reaching the winger in the box.
@lawrenceostlere this is nearly as embarrassing as Brexit. What must they think of us!!
— ethan mackintosh (@ethanmack) May 6, 2017
In fairness to Tony Adams, I’m not sure any manager could work miracles with this squad.
19 min Watford loanee Uche Henry Agbo replaces fellow Watford loanee Aly Mallé in midfield. The 19-year-old doesn’t appear to be injured, it’s just a hugely demoralising tactical switch.
17 min Tony Adams seems to be lining up a change, with Uche getting ready to come on. Is there an injury, or is this a Mourinho-style statement swap?
15 min James releases Vazquez down the right but this time Ingason is well positioned to get across and pinch the ball.
13 min Granada finally string a few passes together, though their attempts to spring forward leave themselves worryingly open.
Goal It’s actually a terrible cross from Vazquez which sets this up. He balloons one over the defence but it drags Gaston Silva out of position in the centre, and when Coentrão cross the ball back in James Rodriguez is in plenty of space to tense his neck muscles and power a header past Ochoa from eight yards.
Updated
Goal! Granada 0-2 Real Madrid (James, 10 min)
And there’s another.
6 min Real are straight back on the ball. James slides Danilo down the right and the full-back’s cross is blocked but deflects off him on its way behind for a goal-kick.
The replay shows James was a smidge offside there, the sort of thing that Granada could probably do without against the European champions.
Goal A switch pass from the left picks out Vázquez arriving on the right side of the area in space. He takes a touch and drives towards the corner of the six-yard box before whipping a ball across the centre where James Rodriguez gets some sort of touch off his knee, it seems, to put Real in front.
Updated
Goal! Granada 0-1 Real Madrid (James, 3 min)
Well that didn’t take long.
Kick-off!
Real Madrid, in menacing head-to-toe black, get the game under way. Purely based on aesthetics, I feel petrified for Granada.
A pre-match prediction:
@lawrenceostlere Real may make hard work of this that's their thing weaker teams too casual about their business but they get results! 1-4
— John McEnerney (@MackerOnTheMed) May 6, 2017
I missed out Danilo from that Real Madrid lineup, as Miguel Boo Fraga helpfully emails to point out, who is starting at right-back. Apologies. Though I dispute’s Miguel’s claim that they are not good enough to line up with 10.
Updated
Full-time: Barcelona 4-1 Villarreal
If you were to predict the four names on Barcelona’s scoresheet, you might well guess Neymar, Luis Suárez and Lionel Messi x2, and you’d be right to. That result leaves the table looking like this – a reminder that Barça have the superior head-to-head and would win the title should they finish level with Real:
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barcelona | 36 | 74 | 84 |
| 2 | Real Madrid | 34 | 53 | 81 |
| 3 | Atletico Madrid | 36 | 41 | 74 |
| 4 | Sevilla | 36 | 18 | 69 |
| 5 | Villarreal | 36 | 21 | 63 |
Teams!
Granada: Ochoa; Fouquier, Hongla, Ingason, Gastón Silva; Krhin, Angban, Pereira, Cuenca, Mallé, Adrián Ramos
Subs: Rui Silva, Uche, Lombán, Boga, Atzili, Vezo, Entrena
Real Madrid: Casilla; Danilo, Nacho, Ramos, Coentrão; Casemiro, Kovacic; Vázquez, James Rodriguez, Asensio; Morata
Subs: Yáñez, Kroos, Benzema, Marcelo, Mariano, Modric, Isco
Referee: Ignacio Iglesias
Updated
Preamble
Real Madrid head south to Andalusia with, on paper at least, a straightforward task of beating the already relegated Granada. They remain in pole position to win their first La Liga title in five seasons, while Cristiano Ronaldo is in scintillating form and another Champions League final beckons. Life is rosey at the Bernebéu.
But Real’s remaining three league games after this one are far from easy, facing Sevilla next weekend before trips to Celta Vigo and Malaga. What’s more, with Barcelona closing in a win over Villarreal as I write, one defeat could be enough to hand the title to Luis Enrique’s lot. Real cannot afford to slip up tonight, and take on Granada with several of their big hitters on the bench and Ronaldo rested from the entire squad before their Champions League semi-final second leg at Atlético on Wednesday.
By my reckoning Tony Adams and Zinedine Zidane have never met competitively before, having played against each other only twice in their careers, in international friendlies which saw a French 2-0 win at Wembley and a 1-1 draw in Paris. That’s a shame as it’s easy to picture a good contest between Zidane’s attacking artistry and Adams’ sheer defensive commitment. Tonight they do meet competitively – except they don’t really, of course. Adams has a group of loanees without a win in forever up against a manager who reckons he can afford to leave his guaranteed goal machine recharging at home. We’ll find out if he’s right.
Kick-off: 7.45pm BST, 8.45pm local time
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