Five talking points from the La Liga game week 19

2. Real Madrid cut the gap

Real Madrid cut the gap to 3 points

The stalemate on Saturday night meant that Real Madrid could cut the gap from five points to three on La Liga’s top two against Espanyol on Sunday.

It wasn’t an easy task—Atleti, Athletic Bilbao and Valencia have already lost at Cornella-El Prat this season—but they managed to squeak over the line.

Luka Modric was super, oozing class in a midfield performance which was head and shoulders above anyone else on the pitch. His set-piece led to the only goal of the game, scored by Pepe’s head, but he offered so much more than that.

He went on driving runs to lead Los Blancos on counter attacks (completing four of his six take-ons), passed the ball with purpose and made three vital interceptions—one on Gabriel Torje interrupted a particularly dangerous Espanyol break.

Meanwhile, on the eve of the Ballon d’Or, Cristiano Ronaldo didn’t manage to score despite having 11 efforts on goal. He even missed one chance which was as good as open net after the impressive Kiko Casilla had saved from Karim Benzema.