Real keep pace with Barca as Bale suffers hostile reception

Real Madrid overcame an early howler from Sergio Ramos to beat Real Sociedad 3-1 at home on an eventful Saturday at the Santiago Bernabeu, where Gareth Bale was loudly booed by his own supporters and Luka Modric returned to his very best form.

The victory allowed second-placed Real to stay in touch with leaders Barcelona, who also have 28 points after 13 games but top the standings due to their superior goal difference.

Atletico Madrid lost ground on leaders Barcelona as they were held to a frustrating 1-1 stalemate at Granada for a seventh draw in 14 La Liga games.

Real captain Ramos made a calamitous backpass within the first two minutes, allowing Willian Jose to calmly round keeper Thibaut Courtois and pass the ball into the empty net to put the visitors ahead and stun the home fans into silence.

Real, however, were back on level terms thanks to Karim Benzema after 37 minutes before running out winners with second-half goals from Federico Valverde and Luka Modric.

The hosts took a while to find their composure after the nightmare start but equalised when Benzema met a free kick from Modric and guided the ball into the net with his chest.

Zinedine Zidane’s side took the lead early in the second half with a deflected shot from distance by midfielder Valverde and extended their advantage in the 67th minute when Modric thrashed a bouncing ball home from inside the area.

The Croatian’s goal came from a cross by substitute Bale, who was initially greeted with a chorus of boos after celebrating Wales’ qualification for Euro 2020 with a flag showing the words ‘Wales. Golf. Madrid. In that order’.

Bale seemed unaffected by the hostile reception, however, and began to win the crowd over with an energetic display, nearly scoring in stoppage time with a shot from a tight angle after a thrilling run down the wing.

Real coach Zidane urged the real fans to refrain from booing their joint-record signing again.

The Frenchman was also pleased with how his side responded to their awful start to the game.

“What I liked most was our attitude. We made a bad start to the game and gave the ball away a lot, we struggled for the first half an hour but then we produced an excellent performance against a top side.”

Diego Simeone’s side went ahead on the hour mark through Brazilian left back Renan Lodi but lost their lead soon after when Granada’s German Sanchez outjumped his marker Hector Herrera and sent a header crashing into the net.

Simeone brought on record signing Joao Felix in search of a winner but his side barely managed to test keeper Rui Silva in the closing stages, although they were denied a penalty when substitute Dario Poveda went down in added time.

“We leave here with a bad taste in our mouths because we did everything we could to try and win the game,” said Atletico midfielder Koke.

“We defended well but their goal came out of nowhere, it was their only real opportunity to score. We played so well and should have got the three points. We cannot feel bad about how we played today.”

Granada made headlines last month by moving to the top of the standings in their first season back in La Liga but they have been on a downward spiral since and had lost their last three league games.

Atleti dominated the game but struggled to translate their superiority into many clear-cut chances and had to settle for a fourth consecutive away draw in the league. Their next fixture is a crunch match at home to Barcelona.

“We are feeling bitter, we know we should have left here with all three points,” said midfielder Herrera, who also complained that video technology was not used to determine whether his side should have been awarded a late penalty.

“I don’t like to complain about referees as we are all human and make mistakes but it was strange that the video referee did not get involved in what looked like a clear penalty.”

Agencies