Consolation win for Real Madrid

Real Madrid CF got a 1-4 away win against RCD Espanyol thanks to a Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick as well as a Marcelo strike, however, any chances los blancos had of claiming the Liga BBVA title on the final matchday were dashed following FC Barcelona’s triumph over Club Atlético de Madrid.

After a very evenly contested start to the game, Ronaldo came very close to making it 0-1 with a header following a cross from the wing by Dani Caravajal, but instead of going in, the ball grazed the home team’s post. Espanyol hit back and tried their luck through efforts from Víctor Sánchez and Abraham, which were respectively kept out by Dani Caravajal and Keylor Navas. The first half was a very back-and-forth affair with both teams carving out goalscoring opportunities, nonetheless, it remained scoreless at the break.

Madrid came out stronger for the restart and began to control the game. James Rodríguez almost broke the deadlock with a strike that was agonisingly close to finding the back of the net, but Carlo Ancelotti’s men still managed to take the lead two minutes later following a fast counter-attack. Karim Benzema picked out Ronaldo and the Portuguese marksman made it 0-1 with a diagonal shot past Kiko Casilla.

Espanyol wasted no time in responding. Keylor Navas prevented Víctor Sánchez from grabbing an equaliser with a fantastic save after a nice bit of build-up play from the home side. However, the Real Madrid keeper dropped the ball in his box shortly afterwards, a mistake Cristian Stuani was able to capitalise on to draw things level.

Things were looking bad for los blancos during this period of the encounter, but Marcelo re-established the visitors’ lead with a powerful strike into the top corner. With full time approaching, Ronaldo killed things off with another two goals, the first of which came through another effective counter-attack. Despite winning, the result proved insufficient in terms of their chances of claiming the La Liga title due to Barcelona’s triumph over Atlético. Meanwhile, Espanyol still have a chance to seal seventh place in the table before the curtain is drawn on the 2014/15 season.