REAL MADRID TIES BARCA’S WINNING STREAK
MADRID—Real Madrid tied Barcelona’s Spanish record of 39 games unbeaten in all competitions by crushing Granada, 5-0, in La Liga on Saturday.
Francisco “Isco” Alarcon scored twice and Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, and Casemiro added on at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
Madrid was six points ahead of second-placed Barcelona, which plays fifthplace Villarreal on Sunday. Third-place Sevilla, which defeated sixth-place Real Sociedad, 4-0, was four points off the lead.
Ronaldo, who was rested in Madrid’s 3-0 first-leg win against Sevilla in the Copa del Rey on Wednesday, scored with a close-range header off a cross by Marcelo.
Before the match, he was honored in a ceremony to mark the Ballon d’Or award he earned last month.
Former Madrid players who won similar awards participated, including Luis Figo, Brazilian striker Ronaldo and coach Zinedine Zidane.
“It was important to begin the year like this,” Zidane said. “We have to keep this pace the rest of the year.”
Madrid’s last setback was a 2-0 loss at Wolfsburg in the quarterfinal first leg of the Champions League in April. Since then, it has won 30 games and drawn nine under Zidane, a run that included three titles.
Zidane, who has lost only twice since taking over Madrid a year ago, already matched the club record of 34 games without a defeat set in 1989 under coach Leo Beenhakker.
The Spanish unbeaten record set by Luis Enrique’s Barcelona last season ended with a loss to Madrid at Camp Nou in April.
“It gives us great satisfaction to equal this record,” Zidane said. “We will do everything possible to keep this going.”
Madrid, which has won eight of its last nine league games, will have a chance to take the record outright in the second leg at Sevilla on Thursday.
Isco opened the scoring with a low shot from inside the area after a mistake by the Granada defense while trying to move the ball forward, and Benzema—in an offside position—added to the lead off the rebound of a shot by Luka Modric.