Madrid win to keep up pressure on Atlético in La Liga

Real Madrid kept up their title challenge on Thursday with a relatively comfortable 4-1 win away to Granada.

First-half goals from Luka Modric and Rodrygo gave Zinedine Zidane's injury-hit side a 2-0 lead before halftime after 19-year-old fullback Miguel clipped the ball forward for Modric to open the scoring.

Rodrygo doubled the lead on the stroke of halftime after being given time and space to advance in the Granada half before being Rui Silva.

Granada won the Camp Nou just over a week ago, but after playing on Monday night they were much less competitive against Real Madrid for much of the game.

39-year-old Jorge Molina pulled a goal back for Granada with 20 minutes left, but almost immediately afterward, substitute Alvaro Odriozola re-established Madrid's 2-goal cushion after a cross from Hazard and Benzema made it 4-1 less than a minute later.

Real Madrid remain two points behind league leaders, Atletico Madrid with two games to play, but have a better goal difference than their title rivals.

Second-half goals from Gerard Moreno and Etienne Capoue gave Villarreal a 2-0 win away to Valladolid, which keeps Villarreal's hopes of finishing fifth alive, at the same time leaving Valladolid on the brink of relegation.

An even game was decided by Villarreal's better finishing with Gerard Moreno netting his 22nd goal of the campaign in the 67the minute and Capoue clipping the ball home from the edge of the area in injury time.

Valladolid's last two matches are away to fifth place Real Sociedad and at home to league leaders, Atletico Madrid and they probably need to win them both to stay up.

Eibar's survival chances also suffered a blow as they were held 1-1 at home to Betis, who missed the chance to move into fifth place.

Andres Guardado's deflected gave Betis an early lead, but Eibar worked hard in the second half and earned a point when Sergi Enrich headed home with six minutes left to play.

Wednesday saw Atletico Madrid take an important 2-1 win at home to Real Sociedad, while 24 hours earlier, FC Barcelona were held to a 3-3 draw away to Levante-

Elsewhere on Wednesday, Huesca beat Athletic Club Bilbao, while Celta Vigo beat Getafe and Sevilla won at home to Valencia, with all of the games decided by a single goal