The Malta Independent on Sunday
Madrid match Barcelona’s unbeaten record
Real Madrid's 5-0 demolition of lowly Granada in La Liga on Saturday extended their club-record unbeaten run to 39 matches – bringing them level with Barcelona's all-time best mark for a Spanish club.
Zinedine Zidane's side last tasted defeat in April, when they lost 2-0 at Wolfsburg in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final – a deficit they would ultimately overturn on the way to becoming European champions.
They scored four first-half goals against Eibar at the Santiago Bernabeu in a 4-0 win three days on from that setback and repeated the feat as Granada were put to the sword.
Isco scored twice, with Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo also on target before the break, while Casemiro scored a rare goal in a more uneventful second period.
Barcelona's own record run came to an end against their bitter rivals with a 2-1 loss at Camp Nou last term – immediately before Madrid went down to Wolfsburg.
Madrid sit six points clear of Barca at the top of La Liga and will break the record if they avoid defeat at Sevilla in the Copa del Rey on Thursday. Zidane's men have a 3-0 advantage from the first leg of the last-16 tie.
Zidane told reporters: "Winning is the most important thing, yes, but it's how we are doing it too. We are doing things well and seriously and, if you do that, people enjoy it and so do we.
"What stands out is the professionalism of the team that it has from the first minute to the end – respecting the opponent, playing with intensity, pressing when we lose the ball and overwhelming Granada."
Zidane joined fellow Ballon d'Or winners and ex-Madrid stars Raymond Kopa, Luis Figo, Michael Owen and former Brazil striker Ronaldo on the field beforehand to celebrate Cristiano Ronaldo as a four-time recipient of the coveted award.
Atletico Madrid beat Eibar to regain fourth spot
Atletico Madrid have returned to the top four in La Liga after recording a 2-0 victory over tricky Eibar in yesterday afternoon's clash in the Basque Country.
Saul Niguez opened the scoring early in the second period, before Antoine Griezmann doubled Atletico's lead 16 minutes from time as the capital outfit closed the gap on league leaders Real Madrid to nine points.
Neither side created a chance of note in the opening 20 minutes of action, although it was Eibar and their long balls into the Atletico box from wide positions that looked the most likely route to finding the game's first goal.
It took until the 26th minute for either side to have a shot on target and that effort came from Eibar midfielder Adrian, whose low strike from an Ander Capa cross was saved by Miguel Moya in the Atletico goal.
Atletico had the chance to threaten from a 30-yard free kick in the 33rd minute when Fran Rico brought Koke to the deck, but Griezmann fired straight into the wall as a fairly tame contest remained goalless.
Indeed, the visitors failed to register a single shot on target in what was a disappointing opening 45 minutes, with Adrian's effort in the 26th minute proving the closest that either side came to making the breakthrough in the first period.
Atletico took the lead early in the second half, however, with Saul's flicked header from a Filipe Luis cross sending Diego Simeone's side into a 1-0 lead with 54 minutes on the clock.
Eibar goalkeeper Yoel had to make a smart save to prevent Saul from scoring his second of the match just before the hour, before Pedro Leon missed the target down the other end as the score stayed 1-0 entering the final 20 minutes of action.
Atletico scored their second in the 74th minute when Griezmann converted a low Kevin Gameiro cross, however, and that proved to be the end of the scoring at the Ipurua as Simeone's side returned to the Champions League positions.