There are plenty of reasons to watch Spanish football, and the heroics of Cristiano Ronaldo is certainly one of them, so much so in fact, that Villarreal striker Nicola Sansone argues it was one of the reasons he came to LaLiga. The German-born Italian striker had previously played for Sassuolo and has since settled in nicely at his new home. "Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the reasons why I chose to come to Spain," Sansone said. "He has always been an idol of mine. "When I faced [Cristiano] Ronaldo, the match went really well and I asked him for his shirt, but he was upset at having been held to a draw, so he promised he'd give it to me on the return leg." According to Sansone, the Yellow Submarine's goal is to qualify for the Champions League, and currently sitting in third place, that objective looks well within reach.A Sergio Ramos second half header was all of the scoring that Zinedine Zidane's men could muster against a very disciplined and able Villarreal side that were boosted by a late first half penalty converted by Bruno. The result leaves Real sharing the record for consecutive league wins with the 16 straight victories accomplished by Pep Guardiola's Barcelona in 2011. While Real enjoyed the bulk of possession, they were unable to break down Villarreal's sturdy defence during the run of play. In particular, it was a frustrating night for Cristiano Ronaldo, who cheaply gave away possession a few times in the Villarreal half and overall looked out of sorts.
After being rested for Sunday's win at Espanyol, Ronaldo and Gareth Bale returned to the starting XI, while Luka Modric was given the day off, paving the way for a rare Mateo Kovacic start. A knock to Pepe also forced Zidane into slotting in Raphael Varane at centre-back, and Danilo was tabbed ahead of Dani Carvajal at right-back. It was all Real at the start, as Zidane's men peppered the Villarreal goal with a barrage of deep crosses and shots, but nothing on target. Similar to the formation used by Sporting Lisbon last week against Los Blancos, Villarreal had a four-man defence sit deep behind a five-man midfield that aimed to bottle up the passing lanes to the Real attack. Still, Real were able to carve out chances, and nearly took the lead through a Benzema header after Bale himself had headed across goal. Villarreal were keen to play their possession football too, and they kept the Real defence honest for a few decent stretches throughout the first half, including a Denis Cheryshev shot that forced Kiko Casilla into a fingertip save. The first red flag that this would be a difficult night for Real came minutes before half-time, when Marcelo was forced off with an injury and replaced by Carvajal. That was then followed by an ill-timed handball from Sergio Ramos in the area, and Bruno coolly executed from the penalty spot with a brilliant Panenka to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
But Ramos would make up for his error and tally the equaliser shortly after the start of the second stanza. For what seemed like the umpteenth time in a Real shirt, Ramos scored with header off a corner kick, as he met Toni Kroos' out-swinger at the far post and thumped in past Asenjo to make it 1-1. The goal shook Real from their doldrums and they would go on to peg the visitors back for a good portion of the second half. Villarreal could hardly get a boot on the ball, let alone make their way into the Real half. Meanwhile, the Real attack continued, as Ronaldo arrived just a hair late to a ball at the back post before a stinging left-footer from Bale missed by inches. The final 20 minutes saw Zidane bring in Lucas Vazquez and Alvaro Morata in search of the same late game magic that carried the team to a late win last week versus Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League. The former Juventus man nearly repaid that faith, but his bouncing header was tipped over the bar by Asenjo. Moments later Ronaldo had a great look at the match-winner, but shot straight at Asenjo to all but seal the hard-earned point for the Yellow Submarine.
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