Real Madrid moved back to within four points of LALIGA leaders Barcelona after securing a 1-0 win over Deportivo Alaves on Sunday evening.
Los Blancos recalled Fran Garcia, Lucas Vazquez, Aurelien Tchouameni and Arda Guler following the hammering by Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League.
Madrid looked to have gone ahead in the 20th minute after Raul Ascencio made the most of a corner-kick from Rodrygo and found the net, but it was ruled out after a review.
The situation didn’t bother the visitors, who eventually went ahead through a sumptuous left-footed curler by Eduardo Camavinga from a pass by Federico Valverde.
Madrid were down to ten men minutes before halftime as star player Kylian Mbappe got his marching orders for a horrible challenge on Antonio Blanco.
However, Alaves also had a player dismissed late in the second half, with Manu Sanchez given a straight red card for a dangerous foul on Vinicius Junior.
Los Blancos battled away towards fulltime and registered the win to keep pace with the leaders FC Barcelona as the race for the title continues.
Leganes 0-1 FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona maintained top spot in LaLiga following a narrow 1-0 victory over relegation-threatened Leganes on Saturday evening.
Just two changes for the Blaugrana from the emphatic display over Borussia Dortmund saw Pau Cubarsi sacrificed for Ronald Araujo and Eric Garcia preferred ahead of Frenkie de Jong.
The title-chasers looked to continue where they left off in midweek with Robert Lewandowski coming close minutes in but ended up going wide.
Barcelona still showed courage, but the home team proved a difficult to break down and created a few chances of their own though failed to find the net.
However, the table-toppers remained supreme albeit through a slice of good fortune when an inch-perfect cross from dangerman Raphinha saw Jorge Saenz fire into his own net.
The match were pretty even later on with chances going the way of both sides, but neither capitalised and 1-0 it finished to the Blaugrana.
