Real Madrid wins after double video evidence at UD Levante

In the absence of captain Sergio Ramos, Real Madrid beat UD Levante 2: 1 (1-0) to keep the gap to league leaders FC Barcelona at nine points. The Catalans had won in Seville the day before.

The absence of the defensive boss made itself noticeable in the first half, because Levante came several times to promising opportunities. The best player in a long-disappointing Real team was Toni Kroos, who scored each of his 34 passes in the first half.

100% - @ToniKroos has scored each of his 34 passes in the first half against Levante, 19 of them in the opposing half. Pass machine. pic.twitter.com/V5oZwbhZJF

Real was awarded a penalty just before the break. Luka Modric had hit Enis Bardhi by the hand, the referee whistled, checked the video images and stuck with his decision. In the absence of penalty kicks Ramos Karim Benzema came on and scored the lead (43th minute).

Roger Marti, who had previously failed at the post - of course twice - scored the equalizer for Levante in the 60th minute. In the 76th minute came Casemiro in the penalty area of ​​the hosts to case. The referee whistled, made sure again on the monitor and confirmed his not so clear decision. Gareth Bale, who had come to Benzema only two minutes earlier, scored to make it 2-1 (78 ').

Second Penalty for Real Madrid! pic.twitter.com/O0qN4Ig8uR

The final phase was again exciting for Real: First Ramos representative Nacho had to leave after fouling Levante's Raphael Dwamena with his second yellow cards (86th), then there was also yellow-red for the hosts (88th) - for a substitute. Pedro Lopez repeatedly complained loudly from the Levante Bank and was each cautioned with yellow.

In the end Real Madrid won and are now faced with a double clasico: At the weekend the team will meet FC Barcelona in the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey. Saturday both clubs will face each other in the league. Both games take place at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid.