4th January, 2020
Raphel Varane was the star man as Real Madrid began 2020 with an emphatic 3-0 victory against local rivals Getafe on Saturday.
Varane scored one and played a big part in another to ensure the Los Blancos return to top of LaLiga.
Madrid drew three straight league matches prior to the two-week break, including back-to-back games without scoring, but got back on track on their return to action on Saturday.
Real Madrid took the lead in the 38th minute following David Soria’s own goal.
Varane headed in a second eight minutes into the second half at Estadio Coliseum Alfonso Perez and Luka Modric tapped home a late third as Madrid saw things through to move a point above Barcelona after playing a game more.
All thanks to Thibaut Courtois as well, who denied Faycal Fajr and Leandro Cabrera with impressive saves at the end of the first half.
And those stops proved defining as, two minutes after Getafe had a penalty shout for handball against Eder Militao rejected, Varane powered home a header that was allowed to stand after a lengthy VAR check.
Gareth Bale was thwarted by Soria from a one-on-one late on but Madrid scored a third in added time through Modric, who had a simple finish after being teed up by substitute Federico Valverde at the end of a swift counter.
Back-to-back blanks for Los Blancos made it advantage Barcelona heading into the mid-season break in Spain’s top flight.
This Varane-inspired victory moves them a point above Barca, who play their game in hand against Catalan rivals Espanyol later on Saturday.