Real fall behind leaders Barca
Los Blancos enter winter break two points behind Catalan club after draw vs Bilbao
BARCELONA:REAL Madrid finished 2019 with growing concerns over their attack and trailing Barcelona by two points as the la Liga goes into the winter break
Zinedine Zidane will face questions about Madrid’s scoring slump after it was held 0-0 at home by a tame Athletic Bilbao on Sunday The slip at the Santiago Bernabeu came after drawing 1-1 at Valencia and 0-0 at Barcelona over the past week One goal in three matches is a paltry return for one of the richest clubs in the world
“Having had so many chances, we are a bit angry at ourselves, but this is football,” Zidane said
“In the last three games we have had many scoring chances but few goals I don’t think it is bad luck or a lack of killer instinct The important thing is that we are creating chances We will keep that up and the goals will come” The league resumes in the first week of January
Madrid dominated possession but the goalkeeping of Unai Simon, the woodwork, and the lack of a scoring touch saved Bilbao Toni Kroos, Nacho Fernandez, and Luka Jovic all hit the goal-frame for the hosts
Simon stopped Vinicius Junior
in front of his goal after the young Brazilian had cut back around the final defender in the game’s first scoring opportunity in the 12th minute Vinicius squandered two more opportunities, not cleanly connecting with Luka Modric’s cross before he failed to control a loose ball in the goalmouth
Simon deflected Kroos’ point-blank effort in the 19th onto the crossbar after Bilbao’s passive back line had let him advance through the box Simon also saved shots on goal from Karim Benzema
Bilbao’s attack consisted in the rare long ball won by Inaki Williams or a quick counter-attack Williams had Bilbao’s only threat saved by Thibaut Courtois in the 20th
Fernandez smashed a header off the crossbar in the 59th shortly after replacing Eder Militao, who injured his right eye Late substitute Jovic headed off the base of the post with four minutes remaining
Angel Correa again proved to be Atletico Madrid’s ideal substitute when he went on in the second half to score one goal and set up another in a 2-1 win at Real Betis Atletico’s first victory in six league games on the road left them in fourth place and seven points behind Barcelona Sevilla are third