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After Copa del Rey and Champions League matches, La Liga was back. Still trailing both Barcelona and Atlético de Madrid in La Liga standings, Real Madrid couldn't afford to drop a lot of points. For Week 16 of La Liga, they were visiting a desperate Osasuna squad at El Sadar. Osasuna was 16th in La Liga with just 13 points and needed a positive result to stay away from the the bottom three spots of La Liga.
First half
At the fourth minute of the game, Cristiano Ronaldo found the ball inside of Osasuna's penalty box after Arribas tripped down before he could clear Marcelo's cross. Unfortunately for Real Madrid, Ronaldo's shot was deflected by Loties.
At the ninth, Cristiano missed what looked like an easy goal. He was brilliantly assisted by Isco who pulled an amazing backheel pass but Ronaldo ended up wasting it.
At the 15th minute, Osasuna scored the first goal of the day. Riera scored with a header after a fantastic cross by Bertrán. Riera easily beat Carvajal's coverage. Real Madrid's defensive struggles continue. 1-0.
Modric was tackled inside Osasuna's box at the 19th. It looked like a foul but the ref didn't call it. Pepe was shown the yellow card at the 19'. Ramos was also booked at the 31'.
At the 31', Diego López made a fantastic save after a free kick shot by Osasuna. It was more of a cross, nobody touched the ball but it was still directed towards the goal. López never lost sight of it and was able to make the save.
At the 38th minute, Osasuna took a two goal lead after another header from Riera. Diego López had made a fantastic save on a previous header by Damiá, but his deflection got to Riera who easily scored his second goal of the game. Bad job from Ramos, Bale and Alonso on the header by Damiá. Both Damiá and Riera were wide open. 2-0.
At the 41st minute, Ronaldo took a nice shot outside the box but it went above the go
It only got worse at the 43rd minute as Ramos was shown his second yellow card of the game after his elbow made contact with Torres' face. Now Real Madrid was playing with ten men.
Right before the half, at the 45th minute, Isco scored Real Madrid's first goal. He received a pass from Ronaldo, who attracted the coverage of three Osasuna defenders. Isco was open outside the box and had plenty of time to shoot. Fernández couldn't reach the well placed shot by Isco, giving Madrid some life. 2-1.
That was it for the first half. Real Madrid was playing well before Osasuna's first goal but two defensive bad plays changed the entire game for Madrid. The ref, Clos Gómez, was having a poor day too.
Second half
Osasuna had the chance to make it 3-1 on a counter attack after recovering a misplaced ball by Alonso at the 49th minute. Luckily, Alonso himself would make the defensive play that killed Osasuna's counter attack.
Ángel Di María went in for Gareth Bale at the 54'.
Isco and Modric built a great play at the 57th minute. The final pass went to Ronaldo who entered Osasuna's box from the left side but his shot went a bit wide.
Osasuna had another counter attack at the 60th minute. It was a three on one chance for the Pamplona squad. Bertrán was entering Madrid's box from the right after beating Marcelo. Riera was open but Bertrán's cross was brilliantly cleared by Alonso, now a defender.
All the danger in the second half was created by Osasuna.
At the 64th minute, Nacho went in for Modric. The croat was arguably Real Madrid's best player today.
Diego López made a fantastic save at the 69th minute. Torres was open inside the box after Carvajal, who was supposed to be covering him, failed to clear a cross by Silva. Torres had two chances to score but was denied by López twice.
Real Madrid failed to create any meaningful plays on Osasuna's territory. They kept trying crosses inside the box that were always deflected by Osasuna.
Things were about to get better for Los Blancos. Silva was shown his second yellow card by Gómez, leaving Osasuna with ten men too. On the free kick, Real Madrid tied the game with a header by Pepe. The cross by Isco was perfect. 2-2.
Isco's day was over at the 83rd. He was replaced by Jesé.
Real Madrid had the chance to take the lead on a great play built by Jesé, Marcelo and Di María. Di María took a shot on the border of the box, but Fernández easily stopped it.
At the 90', Jesé would try another cross inside Osasuna's box but Benzema wasn't close enough to the ball to shoot it.
Unfortunately, time ran out as Real Madrid was trying to score their third goal of the night.
Final notes
Bad game overall for Real Madrid. They could've taken the lead during the first 15 minutes of the game. Instead, Ramos was sent off and Osasuna took a two goal lead. The second half wasn't any better. Real Madrid barely created any danger against Fernández.
Will Real Madrid's defensive struggles end someday? Doesn't look like it. Both Pepe and Carvajal did a very poor job on Osasuna's first goal. Pepe was in the middle of the box covering no one. Dani was easily beat by Riera.
Osasuna's second goal was also product of a bad defensive play. Diamá came from behind with no one even close to him. Diamá's header was brilliantly saved by López but his deflection was headed by Riera, who was also wide open.
Clos Gómez's job was completely atrocious. Ramos' first yellow card was deserved. The second was a joke of a dive by Torres. Not a smart play by Ramos, but still. Gómez also missed PK after a clear foul on Modric inside Osasuna's box. Very, very poor job by the ref.
Both Isco and Modric played a great game today. Ancelotti's decision to send Nacho in for Modric has to be, at the very least, heavily discussed.
In the end, it wasn't a terrible result considering how the game went down. Unfortunately, a point won't help a lot either.
