BALE FLYING HIGH

Real Madrid Leganes 2 1

REAL MADRID showed no ill-effects as Zinedine Zidane heavily rotated his side ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League semifinal second leg against Bayern Munich.

With top-scorer Cristiano Ronaldo, Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane all left out, Gareth Bale (right) produced an acrobatic finish from close range on the volley to put Madrid ahead.

Borja Mayoral doubled their lead at the end of the first half – despite appeals for offside – by stabbing in from a metre out.

Leganes came close to scoring on three occasions in the first half, including Watford loanee Nordin Amrabat striking the bar.

They eventually pulled a goal back in the 66th minute when Darko Brasanac knocked a cutback from Amrabat into an empty net.

Leganes forward Gabriel was sent off after the final whistle for reacting furiously to the referee for ending the game just as he was shaping to shoot at goal from outside the area.

The result left Real third in La Liga on 71 points, 12 behind runaway leaders Barcelona and one behind second-placed Atletico Madrid. Atletico visit Alaves today while Barca play at Deportivo La Coruna, where a point will see them become Liga champions for a 25th time.