Marcelo takes a knee as Real Madrid wins at its training center

Atlético Madrid’s struggles continued as its season resumed after being held 1-1 at Athletic Bilbao for its third straight league draw.

Real Madrid 

Playing a game but not at its famed Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, Real Madrid resumed its Spanish league campaign with a 3-1 convert Eibar on Sunday to stay pace with leader Barcelona. the sport saw Marcelo take a knee during a goal celebration in apparent support for the Black Lives Matter movement.

The Brazilian veteran defender put his left knee down and raised his right fist into the air after scoring the third goal for Madrid. Marcelo’s gesture made him one among the few players within the Spanish league to form public their support for the movement which has protested police brutality after George Floyd’s death within the us . Valencia’s players last week had also taken a knee before a training session to point out their support.

Toni Kroos and Sergio Ramos also scored as Madrid won the sport at the club’s training center while major renovation work takes place at the 80,000-capacity Bernabéu, about 10 kilometers (6 miles) away.

Eden Hazard, who had been expected to miss the remainder of the season due to a foot injury sustained before the coronavirus pandemic, thrived on his return and found out two of the goals within the game. there have been no fans at the 6,000-capacity Alfredo Di Stéfano Stadium, which is employed mostly by Madrid’s “B” team.

“This is totally different to what we experienced before, you've got to adapt,” said Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane, who completed 200 matches responsible . Zidane has the second-most league victories as Madrid coach with 90, behind the 257 of Miguel Muñoz.

Madrid players walked a couple of hundred meters (yards) from the team’s housing facilities to the stadium for the match that marked the club’s return after an interruption of quite three months due to the pandemic.

A large banner within the stands spanned from one line to the opposite with the image of a black ribbon and therefore the message “in our hearts,” honoring the nearly 28,000 who have died with COVID-19 in Spain. The league officially resumed on Thursday with third-place Sevilla defeating city rival Real Betis 2-0.

The victory kept Madrid two points behind Barcelona, which returned on Saturday with a 4-0 rout at Mallorca. Eibar and Mallorca are both fighting relegation.

Madrid dominated from the beginning and Kroos opened the scoring with an attempt into the highest corner within the fourth minute. Ramos added to the lead from close home in the 30th after a travel by Hazard, who started the buildup for Marcelo’s strike from inside the world within the 37th.

Eibar, sitting two points outside the relegation zone, got its only goal from Pedro Bigas within the 60th.

Ramos had scored the primary goal at the Alfredo Di Stéfano when it had been inaugurated with an exhibition match in 2006.

“The truth is we are all thrilled to be back on the sector again,” Ramos said. “We couldn’t await the league to start out again, to compete again, and therefore the best thanks to do this is with a win.”

Madrid is predicted to play all of its remaining home matches at the Alfredo Di Stéfano because the Bernabéu will still undergo renovation work during the summer. The club is probably going to stay at the stadium for the remainder of the season albeit fans are allowed back before then, which the league has said may be a possibility.

• ATLÉTICO HELD

Atlético Madrid’s struggles continued as its season resumed after being held 1-1 at Athletic Bilbao for its third straight league draw.

The setback kept Diego Simeone’s team in sixth place, outside the Champions League spots.

The goals at the empty San Mamés Stadium came a few of minutes apart late within the half , with Athletic’s Iker Muniain scoring within the 37th and Atlético equalizing with Diego Costa within the 39th for his first goal since last October.

During the celebration, Costa held the jersey of Atlético women’s team player Virginia Torrecilla, who is recovering from operation to get rid of a tumor.

It was the 13th league draw for Atlético, which has only two wins in its last nine league matches.

“We earned a draw at a troublesome place but we'd like to start out winning three points if we would like to remain in contention to qualify for the Champions League,” Atlético midfielder Jorge “Koke” Resurrección said. “It are going to be difficult if we don’t start winning matches.”

Atlético’s last match before the break had been an away victory against Liverpool that eliminated the titleholders within the Champions League round of 16. But Atlético had drawn its last two league matches — against Sevilla and Espanyol — to drop by the standings and remain faraway from the leaders. It trails Barcelona by 15 points with 10 rounds left.

Atlético has an equivalent 46 points as fifth-place Getafe and may be a point behind fourth-place Real Sociedad, which drew 1-1 with Osasuna reception on Sunday.

Athletic, which had won two during a row before the break, stayed in 10th place.