Real win against Getafe, trim lead on leaders Barca to keep Spanish title hopes alive

Arda Guler struck the only goal as Real Madrid won 1-0 at Getafe on Wednesday to claw back to within four points of La Liga leaders Barcelona.

The young Turkey international fired in from outside the area midway through the first half as Carlo Ancelotti’s side stayed in title contention after Barcelona won by the same scoreline at Mallorca on Tuesday.

Arch-rivals Madrid and Barcelona will meet in the Copa del Rey final in Seville on Saturday, with Kylian Mbappe poised to return from injury for the weekend Clasico -- one of two remaining this season. The clubs are also due to meet in the league on May 11.

However, the win over Getafe may have come at a cost to Madrid with David Alaba and Eduardo Camavinga both forced off.

“We’ll see what they have tomorrow, but I think they’re both suffering from muscle soreness. It will certainly be difficult for them to be available on Saturday (to play Barcelona),” said Ancelotti.

In Mbappe’s absence on the outskirts of Madrid, 18-year-old Brazilian striker Endrick made his first league start as England international Jude Bellingham dropped to the bench.

Left-back Fran Garcia twice went close for Madrid, his initial effort palmed away by David Soria before he blasted the rebound high and wide.

It wasn’t long before Guler broke the deadlock after Brahim Diaz looked to have wasted the chance.

Madrid worked the ball back out to Guler, whose powerful 20-yard drive flashed past Soria despite the Getafe goalkeeper getting a hand to it.

Endrick thought he had scored only his second La Liga goal after being put through by Vinicius Junior, but Soria took the sting out of his shot and Djene cleared off the line.

Getafe created opportunities of their own, the best of which fell in the second half to an unmarked Mauro Arambarri who dragged wide with only Thibaut Courtois to beat.

Courtois came to Madrid’s rescue in stoppage time as he smothered inside his six-yard box after Peter and Juanmi tried to force the ball home from close range.

Getafe substitute Alvaro Rodriguez, who is on loan from Madrid, nearly snatched an equaliser at the death but saw his low shot beaten away by Courtois.

Inaki Williams fired Athletic Bilbao to a 1-0 home win over Las Palmas earlier on Wednesday to strengthen their chances of direct qualification for next season’s Champions League.

The Basque side sit fourth with five games to go, eight points clear of fifth-placed Villarreal who suffered a 3-0 defeat at Celta Vigo.

Bilbao also have a Europa League semi-final against Manchester United to come, and should they win that they will play the final in their home stadium.

Five La Liga sides qualify for the Champions League this season. Sixth-placed Betis are a point behind Villarreal ahead of their encounter with rock-bottom Valladolid on Thursday.

A fifth-minute goal from the elder Williams brother after he turned a defender in the box and side-footed home with the outside of his boot was enough for all three points.

Bilbao needed two sharp saves from Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon before half-time as relegation-threatened Las Palmas went down fighting.

Alaves climbed out of the bottom three at the expense of Las Palmas with a 1-0 victory over Real Sociedad.

Meanwhiel, Real midfielder Eduardo Camavinga is set to miss the rest of the season after he was diagnosed with a groin injury on Thursday.

The French international sustained the injury during Real Madrid’s 1-0 win over Getafe in La Liga on Wednesday. “Following tests carried out today on our player Eduardo Camavinga by the Real Madrid medical services, he has been diagnosed with a complete rupture of the left adductor tendon,” said Madrid in a statement.

Agencies