Real Madrid grab vital win to keep pace with Barcelona

Real Madrid grabbed a vital win on the road against Getafe to keep pace with La Liga leaders Barcelona on Wednesday night.

Madrid managed to keep themselves in the La Liga title race after picking up an important 1-0 victory over Getafe at the Estadio Coliseum.

Carlo Ancelotti decided to make several changes to his side ahead of this weekend’s Copa del Rey final against Barcelona.

The likes of Antonio Rudiger, Jude Bellingham, Eduardo Camavinga, and Rodrygo Goes were afforded rests, allowing fringe players such as Arda Guler and Endrick Felipe to be given a rare run-in in the La Liga fixture.

Surely, Guler made it count with the opportunity handed to him, as he scored the only goal of the game to give the reigning champions hope in the La Liga title race.

Arda Guler scored the only goal of the game for Real Madrid against Getafe (Image credit: Getty Images)

Madrid launched a quick counter-attack following a Getafe corner, and although they were unable to get a shot off initially, the ball came to the Turkish midfielder on the edge of the box, and his driven shot was too hot to handle for David Soria.

Getafe will be ruing themselves for not getting anything from this match, as former Los Blancos forward Borja Mayoral missed a big chance in the first half.

In the second period, Mauro Arambarri also fluffed a gaping opportunity following a counter-attack, sending his effort wide with only Thibaut Courtois to beat.

Both sides got riled up during the dying embers of the game as referee José María Sánchez Martínez brought a temporary hold-up to proceedings after Aurelien Tchouameni reported abusive chants from a small section of Getafe supporters.

That resulted in an additional six minutes as added time, but that was still not enough for the hosts to grab an equalizer.

The result takes Real Madrid back to within four points of Barcelona, thus keeping them in the race to retain their La Liga title.

Defeat for Getafe means they move to 12th position, with their deficit to the European places standing at five points.