Madrid make it 20 in a row

Almeria were left to rue a missed penalty as Real Madrid eventually cantered to a 4-1 victory in La Liga on Friday.

Reports earlier in the day suggested Los Blancos were ready to field their big boys for the match in Andalucia, and Carlo Ancelotti confirmed these claims to be true. Four changes from last week's 4-0 victory over Ludogorets in the Champions League saw quartet Alvaro Arbeloa, Nacho Fernandez, Fabio Coentrao and Javier Hernandez make way, with Dani Carvajal, Marcelo, Raphael Varane and Karim Benzema coming into the fold.

Madrid were preparing for their last match before flying out to Morocco for the Club World Cup, knowing that a 20th straight win would have put them four behind the world record set by Brazilian side Coritiba, along with temporarily opening a six-point gap atop the League standings.

However, they were almost shell-shocked within just three minutes, when Carvajal blocked Sebastian Dubarbier's close-range shot after good work from Edgar Mendez down the right channel.

Madrid seemed to wake from their slumber as Toni Kroos then smashed an effort from 25 yards out, which cannoned off the crossbar, albeit aided by a deflection.

Nonetheless, the visitors continued to plug away and were awarded their just desserts towards the end of the first half. Isco, on the edge of the box, sent a wonderful curling effort into the bottom-right corner.

It appeared that Madrid were ready to take control of the encounter, but out of nowhere Verza unleashed a thunderous half-volley from some distance beyond Iker Casillas, who was caught out at his near post.

Yet Los Merengues showed great character to bounce back from the disappointment of conceding a goal. Kroos' dipping cross was met by an opportunistic Bale, who guided the ball home with his head.

Madrid dominated proceedings after the restart, Bale capitalising on Thomas' slip, darting clean through, before dragging a low finish just wide of the target, with Cristiano Ronaldo awaiting a cross at the far post.

The Portuguese then missed a chance of his own moments later, collecting Isco's pass from the left-hand side and blasting a low strike towards Ruben, which the goalkeeper got down to block.

For a second, the capital giants risked their profligacy as Marcelo conceded a penalty, tripping Mendez in the box. However, Verza's penalty was saved by Casillas, who guessed right to parry the ball away.

Unfortunately for Almeria, the Ronaldo show was about to begin, as Madrid's victory was sealed. The attacker first played a deft one-two with Karim Benzema and slid the ball into an empty net, before following it up with another tap-in from Carvajal's pull-back.

Almeria 1-4 Real Madrid

Isco 34, Bale 42, Ronaldo 81, 88 (R) Verza 39 (A)

Almeria: Ruben; Michel, Ximo, Trujillo, Fran Velez (Corona 83); Verza, Thomas, Edgar, Dubarbier (Zongo 59); Soriano (Wellington Silva 67), Hemed

Real Madrid: Casillas; Carvajal, Pepe, Varane, Marcelo; Illarramendi, Isco, Kroos; Bale, Benzema (Coentrao 85), Ronaldo

Referee: Alfonso Alvarez Izquierdo

Tags Cristiano Ronaldo
La Liga - Club News