Real Madrid battles Athletic club to goalless draw

Madrid, Dec 23 (IANS) Real Madrid is ending a less than satisfying 2019 by giving up the leadership spot in the La Liga Santander rankings to Barcelona after battling Athletic Bilbao to a scoreless draw at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, where the capital squad hit the crossbar on three good scoring chances and just couldn't seem to get anything going.

Coming off another 0-0 draw in the middle of last week against Barcelona as well as a 1-1 result against Valencia, the outcome on Sunday for Real Madrid puts the team at 37 points, two points behind the Catalonians, who are at the No. 1 spot in the La Liga table, reports Efe news.

Although the capital team dominated throughout the match in terms of ball possession and handling, a series of their shots on goal misfired, with Toni Kroos hitting the crossbar -- along with Nacho Fernandez and Luka Jovic -- and Karim Benzema making a good effort that resulted only in being cleared off the line with a back-heel.

Moreover, Rodrygo forced a snap save and Vincius Junior failed to connect on multiple occasions, all these failures adding up to a bitter pill to swallow for Real Madrid.

Meanwhile, Kenan Kodro fired a first half blast at the Real Madrid net that was disallowed for being offside and the visitors made a nail-biting surge in extra time that looked unstoppable but which ultimately came to nought.

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane, in commenting on the goal-scoring drought over the past three matches, said that although they had had a number of chances, they hadn't managed to connect ball and net.

"I don't think it's bad luck or the lack of a killer instinct," he said, adding that the important thing is that Real Madrid is "creating chances," and going on to say: "We'll keep that up and the goals will come."