
The game, which was played in front of a chilly Santiago Bernabeu Stadium crowd on a Saturday night in the Spanish capital, will not be remembered for long by fans of Real Madrid, who prevailed 2-0 over lowly Granada in La Liga.
With the victory, Madrid moves up to the top of the La Liga standings with 38 points, one goal clear of Girona, who earlier on Saturday defeated Valencia 2-1.
With 31 points apiece, Atletico Madrid and Barcelona, who play each other on Sunday, are ranked third and fourth.
Madrid showed no signs of weakness even though they were without several regular starters due to injuries. Granada, who are currently in second place on seven points with one win in 15 games, did not pose a threat.
With 71% of the ball possession, the hosts controlled the game from the outset, and Granada managed just one shot on goal.
With a deft one-two with Toni Kroos, Brahim Díaz gave Madrid the lead in the 26th minute. He collected the German’s ingenious pass to beat the offside trap and fired the ball past goalkeeper Raúl Fernández with glee.
“It was a magical pass from Toni [Kroos],” Díaz remarked. “He sees things that others do not. I would be delighted to assist the team in any way I can. Better still if it’s starting the scoring.
Above all, I’m pleased with the game we played. We won the game handily. And for my part, I’m glad to score and give Rodrygo the opportunity to score.”
After Madrid failed to exert any pressure, the game was virtually over until Díaz returned in the 57th minute to contest a ball on the left side of the box and win the challenge to cross for Jude Bellingham, whose brilliantly saved point-blank attempt by Fernandez.
But Rodrygo was in a great position at the far post to seize the rebound from the goalkeeper and give the home team an additional goal. In all competitions, the Brazilian has now scored in five straight games, totaling seven goals and four assists during that span.
Rodrygo is “back to his best level, scoring a lot of goals,” according to Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti. “People say he only scores on the left, so I thought he would have more space on the right, so I put him there in the second half.
“He scored following a great move with Joselu, Bellingham, Brahim, and it was a good goal.”