Spanish giants Real Madrid were this afternoon dealt yet another blow on the injury front, during the club’s meeting with Granada.
Zinedine Zidane’s men welcomed the Nazaries to the Bernabeu a short time ago, for a top-of-the-table La Liga clash.
Ahead of kick-off in Madrid, hosts Real sat pretty atop the Spanish-top-flight, despite their largely-patchy form.
Granada, meanwhile, had proven the surprise package of the Spanish top-flight season so far, having sat just a point adrift of Los Blancos before this afternoon’s matchup, with 14 points from their opening 7 outings.
When the 90 minutes were said and done, though, the visitors were brought back down to earth.
Real put Granada on the back foot from the off, leading to Karim Benzema giving the capital giants the lead with just 2 minutes on the clock.
It took until the stroke of half-time for the hosts to double their lead, but, when their 2nd did come, it proved worth the wait.
In what no doubt came as a huge source or relief for player and fans alike, Eden Hazard notched his first competitive goal in a Real Madrid jersey.
Luka Modric then set up what looked set to be a comfortable final half-hour for Los Merengues, with a stunning strike.
In typical Real fashion of late, however, Zidane’s men made things as difficult as possible for themselves.
Granada notched a pair of goals between the 70th and 80th minutes, to reignite the clash.
A late James Rodriguez finish, though, eventually settled nerves around the Bernabeu, to hand the home side all 3 points.On an otherwise positive afternoon for the Spanish powerhouse, however, Real were also dealt their latest blow on the personnel front.
Toni Kroos was the player to have picked up the problem, with the German having limped off to be replaced by Luka Modric during the first-half.
Early reports suggest that Kroos has picked up a thigh issue.
The World Cup winner joins the likes of Marco Asensio, Marcelo and Ferland Mendy on the sidelines for Real.