On the afternoon of April 15, in the thirty-second round of La Liga, Real Madrid visited Sporting de Gijón.
Having just fought Bayern Munich to the death away from home, Zidane sent out a completely rotated lineup for this match, making ten changes in one go. Only captain Ramos retained his starting spot, partnering Nacho at center back.
Even so, Real Madrid still put up a tenacious performance away from home.
In the fourth minute, Sporting de Gijón opened the scoring. Three minutes later, Vázquez sent in a pass, and Isco dribbled past two opponents inside the penalty area before firing home with his left foot to equalize for Real Madrid.
In the fiftieth minute, Sporting de Gijón created chaos from a free kick and breached Real Madrid's goal again. This time, it took Real Madrid longer to equalize—nine minutes. Danilo crossed from the right, and Morata headed home from close range to level the score once more.
Then, all the way into the ninetieth minute, substitute Marcelo provided an assist. Isco fired a low shot from the edge of the penalty area to complete his brace, sealing the victory and earning Real Madrid three points away from home.
Real Madrid had rotated ten players and was playing away from home, yet still managed to defeat its opponent. Although they conceded two goals, the strength Real Madrid displayed—especially the depth of their bench—left all of La Liga amazed.
Barcelona, by comparison, did not have Real Madrid's bench depth. They still fielded their strongest lineup, with only Neymar, who had performed poorly in the Champions League, left out of the squad.
Even so, Barcelona endured a perilous match at home against Real Sociedad. After taking the lead twice, they were twice pegged back by their opponents and even came close