Ramos to the rescue as Madrid makes history
Real Madrid's star trio may have been missing, but Sergio Ramos was the saviour once again as he secured a 3-2 win over Deportivo La Coruna to help set a new unbeaten record for the club.
Another Sergio Ramos late show secured an unconvincing 3-2 win over Deportivo La Coruna as Real Madrid struggled in the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale.
It was the first time since May 2014 that Madrid had started a LaLiga game with neither Bale nor the rested Ronaldo and Benzema in its line-up, and it was indebted to late goals from Mariano Diaz and Sergio Ramos to secure a new club record of 35 matches unbeaten.
Madrid unsurprisingly enjoyed the greater share of possession, but Deportivo – sensing it will not have many better opportunities to get a result at the Bernabeu with the host's star trio absent – gave a good account of itself.
Deportivo thought it had been made to rue missed opportunities just after the break, as Alvaro Morata put an anonymous first half behind him with a stunning long-range strike.
But two goals from former Madrid prospect Joselu with just more than an hour played turned the match on its head and left the hosts rattled.
However, Zinedine Zidane's bold attacking tactics towards the end paid off, as Mariano levelled and then Ramos — also Madrid's last-gasp saviour in El Clasico last week — secured the win, ensuring the club's unbeaten record remains intact ahead of next Friday's (AEDT) FIFA Club World Cup semi-final.
The previous record was set by Leo Beenhakker's Madrid side, which went 34 games unbeaten between October 1988 and April 1989.
Zidane's men levelled Beenhakker's record with their 2-2 UEFA Champions League draw against Borussia Dortmund in midweek and they have now erased the Dutchman's name from the record books entirely.
Madrid's current run started in April 2016 with a 4-0 home win over Eibar, three days after a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Wolfsburg.
The Santiago Bernabeu side has won 26 and drawn nine of the games in that span, with Cristiano Ronaldo the most prolific contributor to the run with 21 goals.
