27.02.2018 » Espanyol 1-0 Real Madrid. Rotation costed the 3 points in the league

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With Cristiano Ronaldo resting and several usual starters either benched or still recovering from injury, Real Madrid left the Cornella with a 1-0 loss in the bag. The Merengues have their mind in the Champions League and that's all that matters for the rest of the season.

Real Madrid's recent winning streak was put to an end this Tuesday night at the Cornellà-El Prat, after succumbing to Espanyol in a 1-0 loss. Zinedine Zidane made a clear statement about his objectives for the rest of the season when he announced multiple rotations in his lineup and after all, who can really judge him? The back-to-back European champions have already lost all possible hopes not only to fight for the title in La Liga but also reach 2nd place according to several bookmakers and they've clearly put all their chips in their Champions League campaign. Real Madrid will face PSG in the Parc des Princes next week...

Espanyol 1-0 Real Madrid - Goals and highlights:

Well, not much of a surprise given how this season has gone. Despite the turnaround, we've seen from the club this year, today's match at Espanyol was reminiscent of the first half of the season. Real Madrid ended the match goalless and the plucky home side finished them off in the final minute as Gerard Moreno scored in stoppage time to get an admittedly well-deserved win: Espanyol 1, Real Madrid 0.

With Madrid's focus solely on the Champions League at this point, these matches in La Liga have served more of a confidence-building exercise than any serious threat for the title. At this point, the squad must have realized that the domestic campaign is long gone. Cristiano Ronaldo didn't even make the trip today and with Modric and Kroos out, the team lacked any bite in the center of the park.

Zidane's questionable decision to leave Bale in a center forward position backfired heavily, as the Welshman was unable to find any space to be effective. Isco was again just such a disappointment compared to the player he was at this point last season, over-dribbling and too indecisive. His unwillingness, or perhaps even his inability to consistently move the ball quickly is becoming a detriment to the team week after week.

Defensively we were under pressure for the majority of the game and if not for Navas and a lucky call that went our way, we would have already been down before the final minute of the match. In fact, that's what makes the loss almost more digestible, we truly didn't deserve to win.

With this win, we remain only two points ahead of Valencia now, who are nipping on our heels in fourth place. Our brief time in third place could be coming to an end soon...

We play Getafe on the weekend and then it's off to Paris for the biggest match of the season. And it looks like Neymar is out of that due to an ankle injury.

Author: Terrance Ross

Real Madrid line-up vs Espanyol:

Goalkeeper: Navas
Defenders: Achraf, Sergio Ramos, Varane, Nacho
Midfielders: Llorente, Kovacic, Lucas Vázquez, Isco
Attackers: Bale, Asensio.

Cristiano Ronaldo next game for Real Madrid is on March 3 of 2018 against Getafe. You can watch Juventus live stream, Real Madrid vs Getafe, Athletic vs Valencia, Juventus vs Atalanta, Tottenham vs Rochdale, and PSG vs Marseille, all matches provided from our live sport game pages.

Real Madrid next game:
Real Madrid vs Getafe kick-off time (03-03-2018):

Beijing (China) | UTC/GMT+8: 03:45
Jakarta (Indonesia) | UTC/GMT+7: 02:45
India (New Delhi) | UTC/GMT+4.30: 00:15
Spain (Madrid) | UTC/GMT+1: 20:45
Portugal and England (Lisbon/London) | UTC/GMT+0: 19:45
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) | UTC/GMT-2: 17:45
New York (United States) | UTC/GMT-4: 15:45
Los Angeles (United States) | UTC/GMT-7: 12:45

Sources: ronaldo7.net / realmadrid.com / skysports.com / bbc.com

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