Karim Benzema fired Real Madrid to a 1-0 win in the city derby against Atletico Madrid on Saturday which underlined Real's La Liga title credentials.
The French forward side-footed home a cross from compatriot Ferland Mendy to break the deadlock in a tight game in the 56th minute after coach Zinedine Zidane had sprung a double substitution to give his team more width.
Benzema's strike gave Real their first home victory over Atletico in the league since 2012 and increased their lead over Barcelona at the top of the table to six points. Barca can reduce the margin to three if they beat Levante on Sunday.
Atletico are fifth and trail their local rivals by 13 points, while their injury problems deepened when striker Alvaro Morata limped off early in the second half with a suspected muscle problem.
Re-live the game as it happened:
"I said recently that Pep Guardiola is the best coach around and Simeone is among the best. Atletico's recent results have not changed my opinion of him."
Simeone on Zidane's compliment: "It's nice when a colleague of Zidane's calibre says something like that and I'll return the compliment," he said."He is the ideal coach for Real Madrid, he has got them back into the same state which he left them in.
"Real's defence has grown a lot this season and it is one of their strong points but they also have a lot of options in attack. Whoever dominates the smallest details will have a very good chance of winning."
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