February 12, (THEWILL) – Real Madrid missed the clinical finishing of Karim Benzema again but Gareth Bale came close to becoming a returning hero for Los Blancos in Saturday’s 0-0 draw against Villarreal, coming as near as anyone to producing a winner.
Bale was originally a spectator in his first La Liga appearance since August, but he subsequently drew three excellent stops from Geronimo Rulli, who kept the hosts in the game.
Madrid remains in first place, but after Sevilla’s win on Friday night, Carlo Ancelotti’s team’s lead has decreased to four points. The result was maybe expected from the start: Madrid has now drawn five of its previous six La Liga road games against Villarreal. Despite this, there was a near-stoppage-time twist, with replacement Luka Jovic hitting the crossbar.
In the first 20 minutes, it was the home side that came closest when Arnaut Danjuma’s attempt was deflected by Marcelo and rebounded against the left post.
Alberto Moreno of Villarreal got a yard of space on the edge of the Madrid box, and his thundering shot forced Thibaut Courtois into a fantastic save. Bale then had a chance after running onto a through ball from Casemiro, but his shot was superbly saved by Rulli.
Early in the second half, Marco Asensio fired a powerful effort a yard too high, before Bale hit the crossbar from just inside the penalty area, Rulli getting just enough of a touch to prevent the Wales forward from reaching the net.
The ball was subsequently stolen by Federico Valverde, who passed it to Vinicius Junior, but Rulli extended his body well enough to block the Brazil winger’s shot.
Bale forced another save from Rulli, this time with a flicked strike from the former Tottenham star, who lasted just over 70 minutes before being replaced by Jovic.
Before Jovic nearly stole the points, Courtois had to be sharp to knock away a dangerous backpass from Marcelo, with Nacho seeing the follow-up cleared off the line.
Villarreal’s next La Liga match is on the road against Granada on Saturday. On Tuesday, Madrid will go to Paris Saint-Germain for their next Champions League match.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
