MADRID -- Three things from the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu as Real Madrid do not really play that well but still beat Rayo Vallecano 5-0 to keep pace with Atletico Madrid and Barcelona in the Spanish title race...
1. Ronaldo not quite right but still scoring
Madrid fans got a fright Friday morning when they woke up to find Marca announcing from its cover that Cristiano Ronaldo had a tendinitis problem in his left knee. The story, which also appeared in AS and seemed to have come from leaks inside Ronaldo's own camp, caused plenty of concern, but Blancos coach Carlo Ancelotti played it down at his pregame news conference. The issue was also a shock, given the Portugal captain had scored in each of his previous nine game for club and country [13 in all in those games].
Ronaldo was on the scoresheet again after just 15 minutes here, and it was a cracker. He started the move himself, flicking the ball behind the full-back for Gareth Bale to run onto, then took the return pass perfectly in his stride, and arrowed an unstoppable low right-footer just inside the far post from 15 yards. That made it ten games in a row -- a personal record -- and moved him to 27 in La Liga, back to three ahead of Atletico's Diego Costa and five clear of Barca's Lionel Messi in the 'pichichi' top scorers race.
But that was the end of his scoring, and there was also more evidence that Ronaldo is not quite right at the moment. Midway through the first half, the Bernabeu went quiet as he went down holding his knee after making a tackle tracking back. He was soon back on his feet again, but grimacing as he trotted back into position and seemed hampered thereafter, especially when running off the ball.
The 29-year-old played a low-key part in both Madrid's second and fourth goals, but he seemed to hesitate and mess up a one-on-one with Rayo keeper Ruben that he would normally finish without a second thought. Given Madrid won so easily, and Borussia Dortmund are due at the Bernabeu in the Champions League on Wednesday night, it was a slight surprise that their key man played the full 90 minutes.
2. Midfield balance not quite there
This game marked exactly half a season since Ancelotti switched to a 4-3-3 system, with Angel Di Maria and Luka Modric as 'shuttlers' either side of Xabi Alonso in midfield. That first game brought a ropey 3-2 win at Rayo in October, but once they got used to the system it brought the 'balance' that the Italian coach had been looking for and a run of 31 games without defeat in all competitions.
That run came to an end last week with Madrid suffering two defeats in four days. The required balance was also missing too -- with Madrid's defence not getting enough protection from those in front as the team conceded six goals in those games. Many fingers were pointed at an apparently exhausted Alonso for mistakes against Barca (the penalty on Andres Iniesta) and Sevilla (robbed on half-way leading to Carlos Bacca's opening goal). Ancelotti played down these issues on Friday, saying every little error had been punished and there was no need for major tweaks.
After being badly missed in Sevilla, Di Maria was back in midfield here, but Modric was missing due to illness, with Asier Illarramendi deputising. The results were mixed, with Madrid making plenty of chances and winning easily, but never really controlling the flow of the game. The stat Ancelotti would have been most worried about was the 5-0 final score, but he and his coaching team will likely have noted that Rayo had the better of both the possession (54 to 46 percent) and pass-completion (87 to 82 percent) figures, with their deep lying playmaker Roberto Trashorras having plenty of time and space to set up his own side's attacks.
Alonso, now 32, had a quite subdued game, and was most notable when pointing and shouting to organise those around him. Di Maria was the best of the three, full of energy again, regularly winning balls in centre and then breaking straight through midfield before feeding usually either Bale or Ronaldo. Illarramendi was tidy in possession and useful at mopping up in front of own box, but offered little in terms of incisive passing before being replaced by Isco just after the hour mark. Madrid were clearly missing Modric's creativity on the ball, and especially ability to get involved in moves two or three times and keep his side ticking over.
It seems quite unfair to quibble considering the final scoreline, but Ancelotti will know his midfield can play a lot better than this. They need all of Alonso, Modric and Di Maria back fully fit and firing for the bigger tests to come.
3. Madrid may need to win 'em all
Spanish TV adverts ahead of this weekend's games said that this year's La Liga title race was the closest since 1970-71 when Valencia won the title on head-to-head from Barcelona, with Atletico just one point back in third and Madrid just a further point back in fourth. That was quite a final day... and we could be headed for something quite similar this year with Atletico, Barca and Madrid all within three points with just seven games left.
Madrid kicked off knowing that both Barca (1-0 at local rivals Espanyol) and Atletico Madrid (2-1 at Athletic Bilbao, where Madrid drew and Barca lost) had come through very tough away games. And -- as they have tended to do over recent months -- Ancelotti's side started really strongly, going ahead through Ronaldo just a quarter-hour in.
But Madrid also went ahead against both Atletico and Sevilla, only to be pegged back in both games. They should really have been out of sight by half-time, with Benzema miscontrolling four yards out in front of an open goal, and Bale outsprinting the whole defence only to stumble over his own feet as he attempted to shoot. There were grumbles from the pretty demanding Bernabeu crowd as the team went off at the break just one ahead.
The second goal came from an unlikely source, with Bale and Ronaldo combining nicely for right-back Dani Carvajal to calmly slot in his first ever goal for the club. Even then, Rayo's Saul hit the post with a header from a corner and Rayo had plenty of the ball in what was a pretty strange game.
As Rayo pushed on they left holes at the back, however, and Bale first tapped in at back post for 3-0, then scored what seemed the goal of the night running a full 80 yards through a nonexistent defence before side-footing confidently in. But substitute Alvaro Morata soon topped that by curling in an exquisite 20-yarder for 5-0 to make the scoreline pretty harsh on the visitors. The grumbles were over now, but the feeling was a better team than Rayo would not have crumbled so easily.
At the end it was as-we-were in the table, with Madrid on paper having the easiest run-in, including more home games than either Barca or Atletico, who could tire each other out when they meet in the Champions League. But next Sunday, Madrid do face a very tricky looking away trip to Real Sociedad (where Barca lost last month), and given their worse head-to-head record against both title rivals, they could well have to win all seven remaining games to triumph. It looks very much as if Spain's title race will go right down to the wire.