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Second-placed Real Madrid suffered a 2-0 defeat at Real Sociedad in LaLiga after being reduced to 10 men when defender Dani Carvajal was sent off early in the second half on Tuesday.
The result gives leaders Barcelona the chance to clinch their 27th LaLiga title with a win in their next game at city rivals Espanyol on May 14.
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After winning 1-0 against Osasuna earlier on Tuesday, Barca moved to 82 points from 33 matches and extended their lead to 14 points over Real Madrid, who have lost two of their last three league matches.
With only five games remaining, Real would only be able to reach 83 points if they win them all.
Take Kubo opened the scoring after the break by tapping into an empty goal after a poor attempted pass from visiting defender Eder Militao to his goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti didn’t mince words about the Brazil defender when asked about his role in the opener for Sociedad, saying: “I agree, he has to wake up, fast.
“We could have gone more vertical, we played the ball back to Thibaut Courtois too much. I don’t want the pivot of the team to be Courtois. We used him too much, we should have gone more vertical, we’ll fix it in the next few games.”
After Carvajal was sent off on the hour for a second yellow card, the hosts extended their lead in the 84th through 21-year-old forward Ander Barrenetxea who ghosted behind the defence and slotted a David Silva pass between Courtois and the near post.
Despite their struggles in LaLiga, Madrid still have two trophies on offer that could help them finish the season on a high note beginning with the Copa del Rey final against Osasuna on Saturday. Madrid are also in the semifinals of the Champions League, where they face Manchester City over two legs starting on May 9 in a bid to defend the 2021-22 title.
“I’m convinced that we’ll see a different team, with the maximum concentration, motivation, 100% to win the Copa del Rey and fight to get to the [UCL] final,” Ancelotti said. “Motivation isn’t like a light, but this team is special in this sense.
“We’ve lost our consistency in the league and our level has dropped. Luckily we have two other competitions and let’s hope we can fix the end to our season.”