La Liga: Real Madrid frustrated by Osasuna in freezing conditions, Barcelona outclass Granada

PAMPLONA/GRANADA: Real Madrid were held to a goalless draw at struggling Osasuna on Saturday, failing to overcome the unforgiving conditions amid persistent snow and passing up the chance to go clear at the top of La Liga.

Zinedine Zidane’s side were held up on the runway in Madrid for four hours the day before the game due to the snowstorm that pummelled Spain and things did not get any easier for them when they kicked off on the snowy pitch at the El Sadar Stadium.

In Pics | Snow day at the Santiago Bernabéu

The closest they came to finding a breakthrough was when Karim Benzema had two goals ruled out for offside in the second half, while they were fortunate not to concede to an Osasuna side who got their tactics spot on.

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The draw kept the champions second in the standings on 37 points, one behind leaders Atletico Madrid, whose game against Athletic Bilbao was postponed due to the snowstorm, leaving them with three games in hand. Osasuna stay 19th.

Messi and Griezmann put on show as Barca outclass Granada

Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann each scored twice as Barcelona thrashed Granada 4-0 away on Saturday to win a third consecutive La Liga game for the first time this season. 

Griezmann opened the scoring in the 12th minute while Messi struck twice before the break to make it four goals in his last two matches and go top of the league’s scoring charts with 11 goals.

French forward Griezmann scored a classy second goal after halftime while things got worse for Granada when Jesus Vallejo was sent off in the 78th minute for clattering into Barca substitute Martin Braithwaite.

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The victory took Barca back into third place in the standings with 34 points, closing the gap with leaders Atletico Madrid to four points.