Real Madrid bounced back from their Almeria defeat with a resounding 7-0 victory over Valladolid to surge eight points clear at the top of the Spanish first division.
Real demolish Valladolid 7-0 to surge eight points clear at Primera Liga top
MADRID: Real Madrid bounced back from their Almeria defeat with a resounding 7-0 victory over Valladolid to surge eight points clear at the top of the Spanish first division.
Barcelona’s 1-1 draw with Sevilla on Saturday gave Real a chance to stretch their five-point lead and they made light work of Valladolid, thanks to four goals in 13 minutes.
Dutch international Arjen Robben’s first goal in Real colours, a brace from captain Raul, taking his season’s tally to 11, and efforts from Julio Baptista and Guti gave Real a 5-0 first-half lead.
Guti added his second and Roysten Drenthe scored his first league goal after the interval as Real, who have won all their matches at the Santiago Bernabeu this season, cruised to victory.
The 7-0 demolition is not Real’s biggest league win, though. They had routed Elche 11-2 way back in the 1959-60 season. “When there is an emergency the team responds and that is the biggest positive to take from this game,” said Real coach Bernd Schuster.
“We try to play down the flanks with a lot of pace and with Robben and Robinho we have that option and that is where most of our goals came from. It is not normal to win 7-0 and we have to enjoy the games like this.”
Earlier, Atletico Madrid took a giant stride towards the Champions League with a 2-0 win over rivals Racing Santander, moving them back into the top four. Uruguayan international Diego Forlan scored both second-half goals as Atletico, who had collected just one point from the last nine, took the spoils in Santander.
Atletico’s win was even more significant as rivals Espanyol lost 2-1 at home to Recreativo Huelva and fell to fifth, two points behind Atletico.
With Ruud van Nistelrooy injured, compatriot Robben, a 36-million euro signing from Chelsea in the summer, made his first start since early October. He had an immediate impact, setting up Baptista for the opening goal on eight minutes.
Brazilian winger Robinho gave Schuster a headache when he went off injured early on and Drenthe replaced him. Valladolid looked dangerous but Real showed their class with four goals in 13 minutes to wow the home fans.
On the half-hour mark, Raul rounded the goalkeeper to make it 2-0 and two minutes later Robben scored his first Real goal.
Captain Raul (38th minute) notched his second from the penalty spot and Guti (43rd) netted to make it 5-0 at half-time.
Real, it seems, like playing teams beginning with the letter ‘V’ as they trounced Villarreal 5-0 and Valencia 5-1 this season before Sunday’s drubbing of Valladolid.
At the bottom, Recreativo gave new manager Manolo Zambrano the perfect start on his debut with a 2-1 win at Espanyol. Former Liverpool man Florent Sinama Pongolle scored twice inside the first 25 minutes to stun Espanyol.
Elsewhere, Valencia continued their recovery with a 3-1 win over Real Betis. Valencia are now just a point behind Racing who occupy the final UEFA Cup spot.
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