The victory ensured FC Barcelona remained unbeaten and and stayed nine points clear of second-placed Atletico Madrid at the top of the table at the halfway stage of the season
Browsing: Real Madrid
Zinedine Zidane’s side dominated the game but succumbed to an 87th minute strike from Pablo Fornals, who chipped over goalkeeper, Keylor Navas, on the rebound.
Zidane led Real Madrid to the La Liga and Champions League double earlier, but the team have struggled recently, trailing FC Barcelona by 16 points
The victory also takes Barcelona nine points clear at the top of the table and a full 14 above defending champions, Real Madrid, whose title defence appears to be in tatters heading into the winter break
Ronaldo had been absent from training after hurting his calf against Gremio in the Club World Cup final last Saturday, in which he scored the only goal of Real’s 1-0 win over the Brazilian side and completed the full 90 minutes
Real Madrid still won a first La Liga crown in five years, but the incident has had a surprising knock on effect on the current campaign.
The match will see last season’s champions, Real Madrid, take on current league leaders, Barcelona, at the Santiago Bernabeau.
Barca lead the Liga standings on 42 points, six ahead of Atletico Madrid in second and eight in front of third-placed Valencia
The 2007 Ballon d’Or winner spent last season playing in the MLS with Orlando City but announced in October that he would not renew his contract at the Florida club.
Los Blancos have now become the joint-most successful team in the history of the competition alongside El Clasico rivals Barcelona
The vital goal in the 81st minute, moments after replacing Karim Benzema, propelled Madrid into the final billed for Saturday, giving them an opportunity to win the cup for the third time and match the tournament record of their Spanish rival, Barcelona
The Citizens had a few half-chances early on as Aguero shot into the side-netting and Lukasz Fabianski saved from Fernandinho, but they were nearly caught out by a Swansea suckerpunch on 10 minutes
Real Madrid are in the United Arab Emirates looking to make history as the first side to defend the Club World Cup and pull level with bitter rivals Barcelona on three trophy wins
Cristiano Ronaldo netted twice for Los Blancos
But Perez has now suggested that the only way for the Brazilian to break the duo’s stranglehold on the prize — which has extended to a decade — would be to join Real.
The superstar is now level with Barcelona’s Messi on five Ballon d’Ors following a 2016-17 season in which he won the Champions League and La Liga double with Real Madrid
Real Madrid entered the match having already qualified for the round of 16 as Group H runners-up, but Dortmund needed a favour from section winners Tottenham Hotspur in a bid to secure third position ahead of APOEL
Last week, they were held by Valencia
But while Messi claims the alleged enmity is very much created by the media, he also admits the pair are unlikely to ever consider one another friends, if only because they rarely get the time to speak.
Defeat for Dortmund leaves the German outfit battling it out with APOEL for a Europa League place, but Peter Bosz’s side only have to match the result of the Cypriot club in order to progress