Sports Desk, Apr 22 (EFE).- Real Madrid cruised to a comfortable 2-0 victory Saturday over Celta Vigo to narrow the gap to LaLiga leaders Barcelona to 8 points as the Catalan club prepare to host third-place Atletico Madrid.
The defending champion Blancos have 65 points, while the Blaugrana are on 73 points and have a game in hand.
With a win Sunday at Camp Nou, Atletico, currently in the best form of the top three, will be just 2 points behind their capital rivals.
Real Madrid remain in pursuit of a record-extending 15th Champions League title and are already through to the Copa del Rey final, but while they realize that the LaLiga crown is likely out of reach, they don’t want to be overtaken in second by the Colchoneros.
Hosting Celta at the Santiago Bernabeu, the Blancos set the pace from the start, yet failed to put much pressure on visiting goalkeeper Ivan Villar.
Karim Benzema fired over the cross-bar in the 21st minute and Real Madrid’s next serious chance came in the 42nd, when Vinicius Jr. set up Marco Asensio to make it 1-0.
Three minutes into the second half, Asensio’s corner found Eder Militao and the Brazilian beat Villar with a powerful header for the 2-0.
Villar denied Benzema in the 61st minute and with 13 minutes left in regulation, Thibaut Courtois faced his first – and only – test of the night, an Iago Aspas strike.
The result leaves Celta 12th in the table with 36 points, safe from relegation but out of contention for the European places.
EFE apa/dr
