Real Madrid continues their winning streak with their 2 - 1 win against Sporting Gijon last Saturday.
Zinedine Zidane and his team moved ahead to their sixth straight victory in La Liga, proving they can still win even without prominent members of the team. Gareth Bale and Toni Kroos are sidelined due to injuries, while Sergio Ramos and Luka Modric are still getting back to top form after recovering from injuries. For their first game without Bale, Zidane used Lucas Vasquez for the attack along with Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema. A 4-4-2 formation was utilized by the Real Madrid boss, using James Rodriguez and Vasquez as replacements.
Despite missing Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo immediately stepped up within the first half and scored a brace with a fifth minute penalty and an eighteenth minute header. Carlos Carmona managed to pull back a goal for Sporting Gijon, but Duje Cop wasted a late penalty kick with only twelve minutes to go and sealed their fate for a 2 - 1 score against Real.
The win means Real Madrid now have a six point lead against Barcelona and they will be going with such a huge advantage in the clásico next week. Zidane and his team have also continued their winning streak of having thirty-six games unbeaten since their match against Wolfsburg in April, which equals the record set by former Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti for the club. The Frenchman believes it's a feat made possible by everyone, and says, "This is positive, but it's not my individual achievement. It's an achievement by the whole team. You have to congratulate the players on these numbers."
The Real Madrid boss remains critical of his team's performance though. Zidane goes on to say "We can be happy with the three points but we can't be happy with the performance of our team. We let the game become difficult for us." Even so, their 2 - 1 win against Sporting will give them a comfortable cushion against Barcelona next week.
