February 19, (THEWILL) – Real Madrid made a strong comeback in their La Liga campaign as they defeated Osasuna 2-0 on Saturday, closing the gap on league leaders Barcelona.
Carlo Ancelotti rested Karim Benzema and Toni Kroos in preparation for the midweek UEFA Champions League clash against Liverpool. This meant that Madrid struggled in going forward. Despite the limited chances, Federico Valverde and Marco Asensio scored two late goals to secure a vital win.
The game had an entertaining opening, with Sergio Herrera denying Vinicius Junior’s chance and Thibaut Courtois parrying away from Moi Gomez. Ante Budimir also had a good opportunity but failed to score. After the interval, Rodrygo and Vinicius Junior had their chances to break the deadlock, but the Osasuna defenders held strong.
Madrid finally took the lead after Vinicius crossed for Valverde, who calmly poked the ball into the bottom-right corner. Asensio sealed the victory in the closing stages with a deadly finish following Alvaro Rodriguez’s selfless pass.
Madrid will now face Liverpool in the first leg of their UCL last-16 tie before taking on Atletico Madrid in a crucial derby in La Liga four days later.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
