Soccer

Brahim Diaz at the double as Real Madrid thump relegated Granada

Real’s Champions League final opponents Borussia Dortmund were beaten in the Bundesliga.

Brahim Diaz scored twice as Real Madrid thrashed relegated Granada (Fermin Rodriguez/AP)
Brahim Diaz scored twice as Real Madrid thrashed relegated Granada (Fermin Rodriguez/AP) (Fermin Rodriguez/AP)
By Andy Hampson, PA

Real Madrid celebrated their latest LaLiga title and another trip to the Champions League final with an emphatic 4-0 win at relegated Granada on Saturday.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side showed their opponents no mercy after Granada’s demotion was confirmed earlier in the day as they cruised to victory at Los Carmenes following first-half goals from Fran Garcia and Arda Guler.

Brahim Diaz weighed in with a double after the break as Real, despite making 10 changes following their dramatic win over Bayern Munich in midweek, extended their lead at the top to 15 points.

Granada had already been condemned to the drop after Real Mallorca beat Las Palmas to boost their own survival hopes 1-0 with a Giovanni Gonzalez goal.

Alexander Sorloth struck a stoppage-time winner as Villarreal, who had trailed until the 84th minute, beat Sevilla 3-2 to keep themselves on the fringes of the European picture.

Youssef En-Nesyri’s double looked to have won it for the visitors at the Ceramica Stadium, but Yerson Mosquera’s equaliser changed the picture and Sorloth had the final say when he dramatically claimed his second of the game.

Real’s Champions League final opponents Borussia Dortmund also fielded a much-changed side after their European heroics and consequently slumped to a 3-0 defeat at relegation-threatened Mainz in the Bundesliga.

All the goals came in the opening 23 minutes with Lee Jae-sung on target twice after Leandro Barreiro’s opener, lifting Mainz out of the relegation play-off spot.

That place is now occupied by Union Berlin after they fell victim to a stunning late fightback from fellow strugglers Cologne.

Union looked to be taking a stride towards safety as they raced ahead with early goals from Robin Knoche and Kevin Volland at the RheinEnergie Stadium, but Florian Kainz pulled one back from the spot.

Steffen Tigges and teenage substitute Damion Downs then struck in the dying moments as 17th-placed Cologne snatched a 3-2 win to keep their hopes of an unlikely escape alive.

RB Leipzig, who are set to finish fourth, were held to a 1-1 draw by Werder Bremen, while the games between Freiburg and Heidenheim and Borussia Monchengladbach and Eintracht Frankfurt also finished 1-1.

In Serie A, Bologna closed in on a Champions League place with a 2-0 win at Napoli.

Early headers from Dan Ndoye and Stefan Posch proved the difference at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium, lifting Bologna to third.

AC Milan ended their six-game winless run and tightened their grip on second place with a 5-1 thrashing of lowly Cagliari. Christian Pulisic was on target twice with further goals for Ismael Bennacer, Tijjani Reijnders and Rafael Leao.