Real Madrid 2-1 Leganés LaLiga: match report

Real Madrid 2-1 Leganés: match report

Real Madrid beat Leganes 2-1 in La Liga on Saturday after coach Zinedine Zidane heavily rotated his side in preparation for Tuesday's Champions League semi-final second leg against Bayern Munich, including leaving out top-scorer Cristiano Ronaldo.

Wales forward Gareth Bale produced an acrobatic finish from close range on the volley to put Madrid ahead against their neighbours in the eighth minute of the game, narrowly beating the offside trap despite protests from the visiting players.

Borja Mayoral doubled their lead right at the end of the first half by stabbing in from a metre out. Again Leganes appealed for offside but the goal was eventually allowed to stand after the referee consulted with his assistant.

Leganes were unfortunate to go two goals down at the interval after coming to close to scoring on three occasions, including Watford loanee Nordin Amrabat striking the crossbar.

They eventually pulled a goal back in the 66th minute when Darko Brasanac knocked a cutback from Amrabat into an empty net.

Leganes forward Gabriel was sent off after the final whistle for reacting furiously to the referee for ending the game just as he was shaping to shoot at goal from outside the area.

Real are third in the league on 71 points, 12 behind runaway leaders Barcelona and one behind second-placed Atletico Madrid.

Atletico visit Alaves on Sunday while Barca play at Deportivo La Coruna, where a point will see the Catalans become Liga champions for a 25th time.

Real Madrid vs Leganés live stream online: commentary

Real Madrid vs Leganés live stream online: preview

Forget about the Champions League for a second, Real Madrid are trying to close the gap on Atlético Madrid in LaLiga to jump into second. They play Leganés at the Santiago Bernabéu on Saturday night in a repeat of the Copa del Rey quarter-final that saw Real Madrid exit the competition. Kick-off from the capital is at 18:30.

For Zinedine Zidane, it is Gareth Bale and 10 others, as he plans to rotate heavily in the game. Cristiano Ronaldo, Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane were left out of the squad and options are limited at the back with Dani Carvajal out along with Isco. Both players are as good as out of the Champions League second leg on Tuesday night against Bayern Munich but Zidane has opted to rest several of his heavier-hitters too with minutes guaranteed for some of the forgotten faces in the team.

Asier Garitano's future is up in the air as the club and the manager himself are growing increasingly pessemistic about his continuation in the suburbs of the capital. He has a deal until the summer and has managed to keep Leganés in the Primera division but he might have options further afield and there seems to be an acknowledgement that he is not long for the bench at Butarque stadium. As far as injuries go, he is without Omar Ramos, Szymanowski and Ezequiel Muñoz as they look to repeat the success they had at the Bernabéu in the Copa.