Real Madrid vs. Valencia: Score, Reaction from 2016 La Liga Match

Real Madrid kept alive their chances of winning the 2015-16 La Liga title on Sunday after downing 10-man Valencia 3-2 at the Santiago Bernabeu to move up to second, leaving them within one point of leaders Barcelona.

Cristiano Ronaldo recorded his 200th and 201st goals at the Bernabeu and was joined on the scoresheet by BBC attack partner Karim Benzema, while Rodrigo—who later saw red—and Andre Gomes netted for the visitors.  

Over at the Camp Nou, Barcelona clinched a 5-0 win over Espanyol to maintain their lead at the top, while Atletico Madrid's 2-1 loss at Levante brought about the end of their title chase.

Blogger Liam Canning highlighted the tense campaign, with Real launching a well-timed leap up the standings:

Real entered Sunday's showdown with Valencia having won their previous 10 league meetings, while Los Che were looking to bounce back from a recent two-match spin without tasting victory.

But Valencia found their hopes dashed after 26 minutes, when Marcelo embarked on a run down the left flank before centring the ball to Ronaldo, as captured by Instagram user Pulpficcion:

It was the Portuguese's 200th career goal at the Bernabeu. An impressive enough feat in itself, but Eurosport went one further in detailing the prolific nature in which he's also bagged that historic haul:

The visiting outfit struggled to carve out as many opportunities as their inhospitable hosts, but manager Pako Ayestaran might have felt Valencia stood a chance if they made it to half-time just one goal down.

Thanks to the predatory Benzema, however, Real doubled their lead just prior to the interval, with the Frenchman picking the ball up with his back to goal before slotting home, per RMgoals1:

Valencia's Diego Alves denied Benzema with a first snap at goal just prior to scoring Real's second—and there was an air of controversy considering he was initially offside, according to ESPN FC's Dermot Corrigan:

Dani Parejo threatened after the break and almost got Los Che back in the mix with a free-kick from range, but he could only rattle Keylor Navas' crossbar. But just a few minutes later, Rodrigo succeeded where Parejo could not. 

The Spaniard picked the ball up in Navas' area with far too much room as far as Real chief Zinedine Zidane will be concerned, and Soccermania_kw posted footage of his blasted effort:

Valencia's elation didn't last, though, and it took Ronaldo just four minutes to bag his reply following an expertly timed run from midfield, per Instagram user CR7xKing:

Still the visitors would not go away. Valencia substitute Gomes responded, producing the best finish of the afternoon to beat a helpless Navas, per Footy-Goals.com:

"

Andre Gomes Goal - Real Madrid 3:2 Valencia 08-05-2016 by @BV_10_NUT - https://t.co/vMzH8ddoJl via @DailymotionUSA

— Footy-Goals.Com (@BV_10_NUT) May 8, 2016"

There was a sour end to proceedings for Valencia when Rodrigo was shown red under controversial circumstances, seemingly for abusive language. Down a man, Valencia could not complete the comeback that would have handed the title to Barcelona.

Real Madrid end their league campaign with a trip to Deportivo La Coruna next Saturday but are relying upon Barcelona to drop points in their visit to Granada if they are to somehow pull off a miracle title.

Madridistas can at least take some heart in the progress made under Zidane, with a Champions League final against rivals Atletico Madrid also to look forward to later this month. 

Post-Match Reaction

Paul White/Associated Press

After climbing back to within just a single point of Spain's table-toppers, Real Madrid can once again afford to believe in their bid for the title, where everything comes down to the last day of the campaign.

Speaking in his post-match press conference, Zidane said it won't be easy and will require more than a little aid from Granada, but their hunt for the crown is still alive, per Spanish newspaper AS (h/t Football Espana):

"

We have to keep adding points and then Granada have to play their game. We’ll do the utmost to win ours. Now we’re second there’s only one game and anything can happen. You never know in football. We have to be aware of that and fight to the end.

The first thing is to win our game. It won’t be easy and we know it. As a player I never won there. There’ll be rotation but we think only of Deportivo. Then there’s 15 days to prepare for the Champions League Final. We’ll fight until the last minute.

"

Somewhat surprisingly, Zidane said Real have "accomplished the goal [they] set, which was to be second," although one can bet that wasn't the club's target at the beginning of the season.

The Frenchman gave more than a subtle nod to safe Granada to do their bit and help prevent Barca from claiming a second successive Primera Division belt, with a climactic Week 38 schedule ahead.