JAKARTA - Real Madrid won big 4-1 against Elche 4-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday morning WIB, making it even tighter to the top of Barcelona who topped the Spanish League standings.
The additional three points put Madrid now just one point behind their rivals. Barcelona only play Sunday at 22.15 WIB against Sevilla.
Elche are further down in 17th with 26 points, just one point above the relegation zone, according to LaLiga's website.
Appearing in front of their own fans, Madrid dominated from the first minute.
Madrid's first chance came from a long-range shot by Aurelien Tchouameni.
Antonio Rudiger also threatened with a header, but the ball went wide of the target.
The deadlock was finally broken when Rudiger scored the opening goal in the 39th minute after taking advantage of a rebound from a dead ball situation that could not be stopped by Elche goalkeeper Matias Dituro.
Towards the break, Madrid doubled their lead from a beautiful goal by Federico Valverde, which started from a cross from Fran Garcia that led to the edge of the penalty box.
Valverde controlled the ball before firing a curling shot into the top corner.
In the second half, coach Alvaro Arbeloa brought in several substitutes to maintain the team's fitness ahead of the second leg of the Champions League 16-final against Manchester City.
Even so, Madrid still performed effectively. The third goal came from a header by young defender Dean Huijsen who took advantage of a cross from young player Daniel Yanez.
Towards the end of the match, Elche narrowed the gap after Manuel Angel scored an own goal when trying to clear the ball in front of his own goal.
Madrid did not stop scoring after Arda Guler made a spectacular goal from Dituro's mistake to close the match with a score of 4-1.
The line-up
Real Madrid (4-4-2): Thibaut Courtois; Fran Garcia, Antonio Rudiger, Dean Huijsen, Dani Carvajal; Eduardo Camavinga, Aurelien Tchouameni, Thiago Pitarch, Federico Valverde; Vinicius Junior, Brahim Diaz
Elche (5-3-2): Matias Dituro; Leo Petrot, David Affengruber, Victor Chust, Buba Sangare; Federico Redondo, Aleix Febas; German Valera, Lucas Cepeda, Martim Neto; Andre Silva
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