Three days prior to the Champions League quarter-final return against FC Bayern, Real Madrid posted a last-minute success in La Liga on Saturday. The outstanding Isco scored in stoppage time to seal a 3-2 victory away to 18th-placed strugglers Sporting Gijon, cementing Real's lead in the Spanish standings with six games to play. Barcelona can move to within three points in the evening but the leaders have a game in hand.
Real boss Zinedine Zidane made no fewer than nine changes to his team compared to the 2-1 win in Munich, with centre-backs Sergio Ramos and Nacho the only survivors from last Wednesday’s showdown. Keylor Navas, Daniel Carvajal, Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale, who is still not 100 percent fit, all stayed behind in Madrid.
The 23,745 crowd at Estadio El Molinón saw the home team carry the fight to their illustrious opponents. Duje Cop (14) and Mikel Vesga (50) twice handed Gijon the lead, but Isco (17) and Alvaro Morata (59) rapidly restored parity on both occasions. Real began creating chances in the closing stages before Isco fired home the winner from the edge of the box in the first minute of added time.
Real Madrid line-up away to Gijon:
Casilla - Danilo, Nacho, Sergio Ramos, Coentrao (Marcelo 57) - Isco, Kovacic (Casemiro 90), James - Vazquez (Mariano 71), Morata, Asensio
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