The pressure was eased on Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane after his team delivered a great response to their midweek Champions League defeat by winning 1-0 away at Sevilla in La Liga on Sunday.
Karim Benzema headed in the key goal to secure an important victory against a Sevilla side that were unbeaten and hoping to return to the top of La Liga table.
It is instead Real Madrid that go level on points with Athletic Bilbao in first place, after a controlled performance that was their best since Zidane’s return as coach in March.
‘We have had a quite difficult time but the players reacted,’ Zidane said.
His position had come under scrutiny after Real Madrid’s dire 3-0 defeat by PSG in the Champions League on Wednesday, a result that continued their bumpy start to the season.
But with Ernesto Valverde‘s Barcelona under pressure after they were beaten 2-0 by Granada on Saturday, Madrid are now four points clear of the Catalan club after five games played.
‘I am very happy as people have been questioning us a lot,’ said Zidane. ‘But we don’t think much about that. We played 90 minutes at a very high level in a difficult stadium. We must congratulate all the players.’
Zidane singled out Gareth Bale for praise. ‘Today hard work was the key,’ he said. ‘The effort made by James, Gareth, all of them.’
Sevilla’s newly-installed coach Julen Lopetegui was sacked by Madrid 11 months ago, 139 days after taking the job that cost him the chance to lead Spain at the World Cup.
He insisted on Saturday there was no desire for revenge but it is hard to imagine victory would not have brought a little extra satisfaction.
La Liga results for the Matchday 5 (of 38) played between 20-22 September
Played Friday 20 September
Osasuna 0 Real Betis 0
Played Saturday 21 September
Villarreal 2 Valladolid 0
Levante 0 Eibar 0
Atletico Madrid 0 Celta Vigo 0
Granada 2 Barcelona 0
Played Sunday 22 September
Getafe 4 Mallorca 2
Espanyol 2 Real Sociedad 3
Valencia 1 Leganes 1
Athletic Bilbao 2 Alaves 0
Sevilla 0 Real Madrid 1
La Liga Table – Monday 23 September 2019
(Played, Won, Drawn, Lost, Goals For/Against, Points)
Athletic Bilbao 5 3 2 0 6 1 11
Real Madrid 5 3 2 0 10 6 11
Granada 5 3 1 1 11 5 10
Real Sociedad 5 3 1 1 7 4 10
Sevilla 5 3 1 1 5 2 10
Atletico Madrid 5 3 1 1 5 4 10
Villarreal 5 2 2 1 12 8 8
Barcelona 5 2 1 2 12 9 7
Levante 5 2 1 2 6 5 7
Osasuna 5 1 4 0 4 3 7
Getafe 5 1 3 1 7 6 6
Valencia 5 1 2 2 6 8 5
Alaves 5 1 2 2 2 4 5
Real Betis 5 1 2 2 6 9 5
Valladolid 5 1 2 2 4 7 5
Celta Vigo 5 1 2 2 3 6 5
Mallorca 5 1 1 3 3 4 4
Espanyol 5 1 1 3 3 9 4
Eibar 5 0 2 3 4 7 2
Leganes 5 0 1 4 2 8 1
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