Real Madrid Draw Sends Barcelona Top as Luis Enrique Confirms Exit

Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos has brushed aside an insinuation by Barcelona’s Gerard Pique that the league leaders are getting preferential treatment by referees ahead of Wednesday’s round of games.

Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo hauled Real Madrid back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 at Villarreal on Sunday and regain top spot in La Liga from Barcelona.

However, Ronaldo pulled a late penalty and a thumping header in the space of three minutes to rescue a valuable point for the capital club.

Gareth Bale has only just come back from a lengthy spell on the sidelines through injury but he can expect to spend some more time away from the action now. I don’t think you can say anything else about it.

Las Palmas appeared to be nearing victory, but four minutes from time Dani Castellano was penalised for handball in the area.

Kevin-Prince Boateng fired in moments later before Ronaldo’s penalty and header earned Real a point.

When Viera confronted Bale about the incident, the Real Madrid forward aggressively pushed his opponent to the floor right in front of the referee…

Substitute Alvaro Morata got the victor in the 83rd minute to complete a 19-minute turnaround that keeps Zinedine Zidane’s side on course for their first La Liga triumph since 2012.

However, having also lost 2-1 at Valencia last week after conceding twice in the first 10 minutes, Zidane insisted Los Blancos can’t always leave themselves with a mountain to climb. He said, “We are going to fight”.

Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata is not happy with his role at the Santiago Bernabeu amidst talk of interest from Chelsea in the summer.

Neymar took advantage of the Argentine’s absence to take over free-kick duty and he produced a stunning strike of his own into the top corner for his first La Liga goal at the Camp Nou this season.

“Unfortunately we have not been getting good results against them, but in all these matches we have played well and shown that we could win”, Atletico coach Diego Simeone said.

Luis Enrique plans to rest players with a potentially tougher fixture coming up at the weekend against Celta Vigo and then the second leg of the Champions League last-16 game against Paris Saint-Germain to follow that.