Elche came into a big defeat from Real Madrid
La Liga’s basement-dwellers Elche fell to a 3-0 defeat at home to Real Madrid on Wednesday night,
propelling the visitors six points clear at La Liga’s summit.
This was a meeting between two extremes of La Liga.
Elche came into the contest at the foot of the table while Real Madrid sat firmly at the top. Elche were winless,
Madrid unbeaten.
Theyhad conceded more goals than any other Spanish side,
Madrid were the division’s top scorers.
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The gulf was evident just five minutes after kick-off. Karim Benzema had the ball in the net at the end of a devastatingly slick passing sequence but Vinicius Junior had strayed offside in the buildup.
The assistant referee’s raised flag ignited the Elche fans and players,
sparking a wild spell as the hosts hounded after their illustrious visitors. However, Real Madrid revelled in the space Elche’s aggressive but haphazard pressing provided.
Benzema was denied by Carlos Clerc’s goal-line clearance. But no one dared get in the way of Federico Valverde’s vicious left-footed swipe,
sending the ball swerving into the corner from the edge of the box in the 12th minute.
Throughout the match,
the reigning champions bamboozled Elche with their blinding rotation of positions and the ball. Real had their second spellbinding team ‘goal’ inside half an hour chalked off for a narrow offside. David Alaba weaved in off the left flank, completing a pair of one-twos before rolling a final pass into the bottom corner.
In the wake of the Clasico triumph on Sunday,
Carlo Ancelotti fretted over the physical and mental fatigue his side may carry into the midweek contest. There wasn’t a flicker of complacency in the first half but Real began the second 45 minutes sluggishly. Within 45 seconds of the restart,
Lucas Boye blasted a volley over the bar from close range after Eder Militao and Antonio Rudiger switched off.
For the third time on Sunday evening,
the VAR’s lines crossed out a Real goal. Despite looking along the backline,