Madrid (AFP)

Penalties for a title: for the third time since the La Liga's recovery, Real Madrid won thanks to a penalty by Sergio Ramos on Sunday 1-0 in Bilbao for the 34th day, and relegates FC Barcelona, ​​who face Villarreal in the evening (10 p.m., 8 p.m. GMT), at seven points.

Real Sociedad, Getafe, and now Bilbao: in these three key matches, the Madrilenians played their cold realism by their indestructible captain Sergio Ramos (34), author of his 10th goal of the season in the Spanish league on Sunday (73), which takes the White House in its wake towards a 34th Liga title in its history.

And as after the victory against Real Sociedad, this success based on a disputed penalty risks making the Catalan press scream ... But four days before the end of the championship, the rating becomes very high for Barça.

Because it is an advance rarely seen that the men of Zinédine Zidane now rely on the Catalan rival: before his trip to Villarreal, another team candidate for European places, this Sunday evening at 22:00 local time (20:00 GMT), Barça, in full crisis and in delicacy with his game, finds himself seven points behind the Madrid leader.

A delay that we do not see how the teammates of superstar Lionel Messi could fill, as they seem lost and so much Real seems focused on its title goal.

For Zinedine Zidane, who insists on repeating that his team "has not won anything yet" and to shell out the number of matches remaining by qualifying them as "finals" before each meeting, moving to this San Mames cathedral behind closed doors represented the last big poster before a gently sloping end of the calendar, against Alavés, Grenade, Villarreal and Leganés.

Without Eden Hazard (hit in his right ankle) and Raphaël Varane (preserved after his neck shock Thursday against Getafe), Real still hung the precious three victory points, following the tempo dictated by an unwavering Ramos, Author of five goals in seven games since the resumption on June 11.

Fortunately, the end of the season, on July 19, is already coming to the people of Madrid, because the men in white have more and more difficulty making the difference: after his wide successes 3-1 and 3-0 respectively against Eibar and Valencia for its return to competition, Real have won their last three matches, against Espanyol Barcelona, ​​Getafe and therefore Bilbao, on the smallest of scores (1-0).

© 2020 AFP