Ronaldo earns Real draw with backheel goal
Cristiano Ronaldo's superb backheel late in the game earned Real Madrid a point in a 1-1 La Liga draw with Athletic Bilbao at the Bernabeu yesterday morning (Singapore time).
The Portuguese forward flicked Luka Modric's low drive into goal in the 87th minute with a deft touch, cancelling out a first-half chipped goal from Inaki Williams for the visitors.
Real were set for defeat until Ronaldo, who also hit the bar with a header, struck with his 24th league goal of the season to snatch the draw that left them third on 68 points.
They are three points behind Atletico Madrid, who were scheduled to play against Real Sociedad this morning.
Barcelona, who meet Sevilla in the Copa del Rey final on Sunday morning (Singapore time), lead the way on 83 points, 12 clear of Atletico.
While Real dominated against Bilbao, it seemed that their minds may have been on the Champions League semi-final, first leg against Bayern Munich in Germany next Thursday morning (Singapore time).
Said winger Lucas Vazquez: "It's true that we are thinking about Bayern Munich, but not when we were playing. We have a week to work on that."
Earlier, fourth-placed Valencia lost 2-1 at home to Getafe and had Dani Parejo sent off for an elbow on Jorge Molina. - REUTERS
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