Real Madrid captain and defender, Sergio Ramos played decent football as the club make final push for the La Liga title this season.
Real Madrid kept their La Liga title hopes alive until the final fixture of the season with a vital victory over Valencia at the Santiago Bernabeu. The victory was much more cherised as Atletico Madrid blew their chance at the title as they lost. League leaders, Barcelona won their in style, pushing the league competition to the last round of games.
The game for Madrid was also became the stadium’s farewell to Alvaro Arbeloa. This event somehow distracted both the squad and the fans, as what was a key match for the title race became a leaving do for the hosts well before the final whistle.
For this match, coach Zinedine Zidane missed four starters: Gareth Bale, Luka Modric, Daniel Carvajal and Keylor Navas did not even make the bench due to minor injuries. The improvised lineup worked out well for the Frenchman in the first 45 minutes, but his second half substitutions and a revived Valencia forced Real Madrid to struggle mightily to grind out a win.
The La Liga title will be decided next weekend. Barcelona, with a one-point advantage plus the tiebreaker, travel to Granada. Real Madrid, at La Coruna, will have to win their match and hope Barcelona do not win theirs.
Ramos played much better than he was in previous months. He was Real Madrid’s last man standing on several occasions in the second half, Casilla’s only help against Valencia’s front line.
He would need more of such decent performance to help their new coach lift a trophy in his first season in charge as they have the UEFA Champions League also to contend for.