In a season when Atletico Madrid and Barcelona are really not at their peak, Real Madrid is heading towards the La Liga championship.
Yesterday (Saturday) the Blancos defeated Real Sociedad 0: 2 away, from goals by Vinicius Jr. and Luca Jovic.
Real opened a gap of 8 points at the summit from Sevilla II, 10 points from Atletico and 16 from Barcelona.
"These figures show that we are performing well," concluded coach Carlo Ancelotti.
"It's a hard place to play, Sociedad a strong team. We played well and we deserved to win after a strong performance. We have this lead at the top because we play well, show stability and consistency, and that is evident in our results."
However the coach tried to cool down the enthusiasm.
"Championship? I do not want to think about it now and I do not want anyone to think about it, because every game is a battle, and we have to be very smart because our next games are very difficult."
Alongside the victory, Madrid took a hard blow during the game when in the 17th minute Karim Benzema was injured and replaced by Luca Jovic.
Benzema realized he was injured in the back thigh muscle while running without a ball, which led to a test of his left leg, but 20 seconds later he fell to the ground and asked to be replaced, with Jovic without warming up (and finishing with a goal and cooking).
Vinicius and Jovic.
Fill in the blanks, Photo: AP
The Italian coach has confirmed that Benzema is not expected to play in the battle for the home title in the Champions League against Inter on Tuesday, and is doubtful also for the derby against Atletico next week.
"Karim had a problem and felt a little uncomfortable and I did not want to force things. I decided to take him down and see how he does in the next few days. I do not think he will be fit for Inter, but he could definitely be fit for the derby."
Ancelotti commented on preparations for the derby: "We will get to the game with confidence, knowing it is an important game, because the derby is always special. There are no favorites in these games and we are going to put our quality to the test against Atletico. It will be a tough game, so we will see what happens."
Were we wrong?
Fixed!
If you found an error in the article, we'll be happy for you to share it with us