Real see off Almeria to stay on Barca’s tail

REAL Madrid kept up the pressure on Spanish league leaders Barcelona by beating Almeria 3-0 at the Bernabau last night to return to within two points of their fierce rivals.

Twenty-four hours after Barcelona dismantled Getafe 6-0 to go five points clear at the summit, Carlo Ancelotti’s side were clinical against Sergi Barjuan’s strugglers as a stunning James Rodriguez volley, a Mauro dos Santos own-goal and a late Alvaro Arbeloa strike sealed a routine victory.

A fifth successive league victory sees Real move on to 82 points – two behind Barcelona – with four league games remaining. Almeria, meanwhile, remain firmly involved in the battle to avoid relegation as their fifth de- feat in seven games leaves them just two points from the bottom three.

Sixteen-year-old Norway midfielder Martin Odegaard, meanwhile, appeared on the Real bench for the first time since joining from Stromsgodset in January but he was brought on by coach Ancelotti. LAST NIGHT Barclays Premier League Leicester 1 Chelsea 3 Conference play-offs Semi-final first leg Forest Green 0 Bristol Rovers 1 Lowland League BSC Glasgow P Gala Fairydean P; Vale Of Leithen 1 East Kilbride 1 Spain. La Liga Celta Vigo 1 Malaga 0; Eibar 2 Sevilla 3; Real Madrid 3 Almeria 0 Germany. Cup semi-final Arminia Bielefeld 0 Wolfsburg 4