FOOTBALL | LA LIGA: Madrid keeps pressure on Barca, Atletico

Karim Benzema ensured Real Madrid kept the pressure on the Spanish league’s front-runners by scoring one goal and assisting on two more as bottom-side Getafe was defeated 5-1 on Saturday.
Madrid, which this week advanced to a Champions League semifinal against Manchester City, provisionally passed Atletico Madrid into second place and moved to within one point of struggling leader Barcelona.
Benzema scored Madrid’s first goal before setting up Francisco “Isco” Alarcon and Gareth Bale to put the result beyond doubt early in the second half. After James Rodriguez made it 4-1, Cristiano Ronaldo rounded off Madrid’s seventh consecutive league victory in stoppage time with his tournament-leading 31st goal. “We are doing our job and are getting closer and closer,” said Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane, whose team trailed Barcelona by 12 points just four rounds ago. “We are going to bed one point behind, but we can’t look beyond that.” AP