Real Madrid continued their recovery in the Spanish La Liga as they took a valuable 2-0 win away to Villarreal in the El Madrigal Stadium.
El Madrigal is a tough ground to visit and the home side had been in form, so this was a potential banana skin for a Real Madrid which went into the match after having scored 18 goals against much weaker opposition in Deportivo la Coruna, Basel and Elche, reports Xinhua.
The victory Saturday which came thanks to goals from Luka Modric and Cristiano Ronaldo means Carlo Ancelotti's men have now won their last four matches to definitively end any talk of an early season crisis ahead of their return to the Champions League in the coming week.
The pre-match news was the return of Iker Casillas in goal to replace Kaylor Navas, while Pepe was still sidelined with a muscle problem, allowing Rafael Varane to maintain his position in the starting 11.