Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo. (Photo : Getty Images)
Top contenders Real Madrid CF (21-4-6, 69 points) will look to follow-up on their big El Clásico win last weekend as the team faces middling club SD Eibar (10-13-8, 38 points) this Saturday, April 9th at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium as the 2015-2016 La Liga season slowly winds down.
Real Madrid struck back after their 0-4 defeat to Barcelona at the Bernabéu during their first meeting this season on Nov. 21st by nipping the Catalonia giants right at their home field of Camp Nou, 2-1, last Saturday, as reported by SkySports.
The game was close from the get-go as both teams were unable to score a goal in the whole first half of play.
Barça broke the deadlock at the 56th minute not via the usual MSN route as defender Gerard Pique made a bullet downward header from close range with Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez, and Neymar effectively contained in this match by Zinedine Zidane's boys.
The lead was short-lived, though, as French striker Karim Benzema equalized the count six minutes later with an acrobatic bicycle kick shot off a brilliant cross from midfielder Toni Kroos which was setup by Marcelo's long dribble.
From there, the game still looked like another El Clásico defeat for Real especially when team captain Sergio Ramos was sent off at the 83rd minute for a senseless undercut on Suárez in midfield.
However, no less than three-time Ballon d'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo netted the winning goal five minutes into full time to successfully avenge their horrible El Clásico loss at home last November.
Meanwhile, Eibar is coming off a 1-2 defeat in the hands of fourth-running squad Villarreal CF at their home field of Estadio Municipal de Ipura last Sunday, as per ESPN.
Los Armeros opened the scoring with defender Ander Capa's goal at the 22nd, but El Submarino Amarillo came back with two goals of their own, at the 35th and 50th minutes, courtesy of forwards Adrian Lopez and Roberto Soldado respectively.
Manager José Luis Mendilibar's side remained winless in their last seven assignments and it look like they are not going to break the slide in this match against Los Blancos.
The predicted result is a 4-1 romp for Real Madrid.
Real Madrid starting lineup (4-3-3 formation): Navas; Carvajal, Pepe, Ramos, Marcelo; Modric, Casemiro, Kroos; Bale, Benzema, Ronaldo
Eibar starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Riesgo; Capa, Dos Santos, Echaide, Junca; Carrillo, Escalante; Keko, Jota, Inui; Borja
