REAL MADRID DELIVERS A SPECIAL NEW YEAR GIFT TO THEIR FANS

Real Madrid delivered a special new year gift to their fans by overcoming a stubborn Celta side 3-0 on Monday night at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid. A second half double from Cristiano Ronaldo and a Karim Benzema goal earned the victory which helps keep Real within five points of league leaders Atlético Madrid and Barcelona who are level on 49 points.
It was a valiant performance in defeat from Luis Enrique’s men. The Celta coach who once played for Real Madrid before joining rivals Barcelona – thus making him persona non grata in Chamartín – had his players prepared for a shock result only to see striker Charles waste a golden opportunity in each half.
There were no surprises with Real manager Carlo Ancelotti’s starting XI as Diego López took his place in goal behind a back four of Dani Carvajal, Pepe, Sergio Ramos and Marcelo. Xabi Alonso and Luka Modric lined up as the two deep-lying midfielders while in attack Ángel di María, Isco and Cristiano Ronaldo supported lone striker Benzema.

Despite Real being at full strength, it was the visitors from Galicia who nearly scored in the sixth minute on a counterattack that saw the shot of Charles deflected away by López.
Real answered Celta’s early chance with plenty of pressure moving forward but were unable to find a breakthrough with Benzema missing from close-range in the 24th minute and Modric sending a rocket just a foot too high of Yoel’s goal in the 29th minute. However, Celta continued to find some good movement in the center of Real’s midfield and were unlucky themselves not to have found the back of the net on a 37th minute Rafinha shot that glanced off the back of Pepe and bounded out for a corner kick.
Looking for a spark, Ancelotti replaced Alonso with Asier Illarramendi at halftime and then brought Jesé on at the hour mark in place of Isco, and Gareth Bale a few minutes later for Di María. But as time wore on, the Bernabéu took on an edgy feel. Fans were clearly growing agitated with the lack of goals from the home side as Luis Enrique’s side dug in and continued to thwart any and all Real attacks.
The Brazilian Charles missed another golden opportunity to put his side ahead in the 65th minute when Rafinha played in a fantastic ball to the former Cordoba and Elche man, but his shot went wide of the onrushing López. Charles would end up ruing the missed chance as Real finally broke the deadlock a minute later. Jesé gathered in a ball on the left side of the Celta area and slipped a ball into Benzema who somehow managed to stick in a right-footed shot among three defenders that spun away from Yoel and into the net.
Real put the match to bed with a late strikes as Ronaldo, who was playing with a heavy heart following the death over the weekend of countryman Eusebio, was able to honor the great Portuguese player with a goal in the 82nd minute as he swept in a Carvajal cross. Ronaldo tallied his second of the match just seconds before the final whistle when he scored off a pass from Bale.