1-2: Cristiano Ronaldo claims the winner at Ipurua

The stage he's playing on doesn't make the slightest bit of difference to Cristiano Ronaldo. Four days after an instrumental performance in Paris, the Portuguese hitman once again demonstrated exactly why he's the greatest player on the planet. The Real Madrid striker, who has notched 13 goals in his last seven outings, bagged at brace to hand the Whites victory at Ipurua. The visitors were able to adapt to a tough and hard-fought encounter, in which grit and hard work were the order of the day, to ultimately secure the spoils and continue the clean sweep of wins so far in March. 

Far from enjoying long spells of possession and fashioning clear-cut chances on the opposition's goal, Madrid found themselves under the cosh right from the off. José Luis Mendilibar's charges were playing at a great tempo and looked to threaten Keylor Navas's goal by sending crosses into the box. In the 19th minute, the Costa Rica international was forced to palm a fine Kike García effort behind for a corner. Madrid, meanwhile, were struggling to link up with Gareth Bale and Crisitiano Ronaldo. On the half-hour mark, Nacho came on in place of Varane, who suffer a bang to the head following a challenge with Kike.

The opener
After weathering the early storm, the Whites began to get a foothold in proceedings. However, a series of interruptions continued to stop the flow of the game. A Joan Jordán header for the hosts and a one-on-one chance for Bale, which Marko Dmitrović dealt with, were the only two rare sightings on goal. That was until Ronaldo popped up. There were 34 minutes on the clock when Luka Modric nipped in to regain possession and play a sublime pass with the outside of his boot that the Portuguese sharpshooter brought under his spell before finishing with aplomb. Madrid's quality and cutting edge made all the difference. After having got their noses in front, the Whites looked more assured and could have even double their advantage before the break, but Dmitrović turned Ronaldo's fierce drive over the bar.