Real Madrid within sight of the title

● Real Madrid took another step towards their first La Liga title in three years by beating freefalling Alaves 2-0 at home on Friday.

Real were missing three of their firstchoice defenders as captain Sergio Ramos and Dani Carvajal were suspended and Marcelo was injured, but they again showed their defensive solidity and recorded a fifth consecutive clean sheet.

Real moved on to 80 points, restoring their four-point lead over second-placed Barcelona with three games remaining.

It seems inevitable that Los Blancos will hoist the trophy given they also boast the superior head-to-head record against their nearest rivals Barcelona with three games left.

Madrid can afford to draw two of those, even if Barcelona manage three victories out of three. “We still don’t know what is going to happen,” said Real coach Zinedine Zidane. “La Liga is very hard and we have three finals still to go.”

Zidane will be relieved all the same, particularly as he had to do without a string of his key players. Apart from Ramos, Carvajal and Marcelo, Eden Hazard was unable to start but came on in the second half to ease concerns about niggling problems with his ankle.

Alaves, meanwhile, fell to a sixth consecutive defeat which left them in 17th place, hovering three points and one position above the relegation zone.

It was their first match under new coach Juan Ramon Lopez Muniz after Asier Garitano was dismissed. The struggling visitors still managed to cause plenty of problems for Real’s makeshift defence, but in the end, the league leaders were far too superior.