Marcelo takes a knee as Real win at their training centre

MADRID: Playing a home game but not at their famed Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, Real Madrid resumed their La Liga campaign with a 3-1 win over Eibar on Sunday to keep pace with leaders Barcelona. The game 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 Real. Marcelo’s gesture made him one of the few players in La Liga to make public their support for the movement which has protested police brutality after George Floyd’s death in the United States. Valencia’s players last week had also taken a knee before a training session to show their support.

Toni Kroos and Sergio Ramos also scored as Real won the game at the club’s training centre while major renovation work takes place at the 80,000-capacity Bernabeu, about 10 kilometres away.

Eden Hazard, who had been expected to miss the rest of the season because of a foot injury sustained before the coronavirus pandemic, thrived on his return and set up two of the goals in the game. There were no fans at the 6,000-capacity Alfredo Di Stefano Stadium, which is used mostly by Real’s B team.

Real players walked a few hundred metres from the teams housing facilities to the stadium for the match that marked the club’s return after a pause of more than three months because of the pandemic.

A large banner in the stands spanned from one goal line to the other with the image of a black ribbon and the message in our hearts, honouring the nearly 28,000 who have died with Covid-19 in Spain. The league officially resumed on Thursday with third-placed Sevilla defeating city rivals Real Betis 2-0.

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

Real dominated from the start and Kroos opened the scoring with a shot into the top corner in the fourth minute. Ramos added to the lead from close range in the 30th after a pass by Hazard, who started the buildup for Marcelo’s strike from inside the area in the 37th.

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

Ramos had scored the first goal at the Alfredo Di Stefano when it was inaugurated with an exhibition match in 2006.

“The truth is we are all thrilled to be back on the field again,” Ramos said. “We couldn’t wait for the league to start again, to compete again, and the best way to do that is with a win.”

Real are expected to play all of its remaining home matches at the Alfredo Di Stefano because the Bernabeu will continue to undergo renovation work during the summer. The club is likely to remain at the stadium for the rest of the season even if fans are allowed back before then, which the league has said is a possibility.

Earlier, Diego Costa scored his first goal since October but Atletico Madrid missed the chance to move into La Liga’s top four by drawing 1-1 away at Athletic Bilbao.

Costa celebrated by holding up the shirt of Virgina Torrecilla, a player from Atletico’s women’s team, who underwent surgery on a brain tumour last month.

His equaliser came two minutes after the excellent Iker Muniain had given Bilbao the lead towards the end of the first half and neither side could find a winner at the empty San Mames, with Atletico defender Santiago Arias missing the best chance late on.

Diego Simeone’s side stay sixth, level on points with Getafe and one behind Real Sociedad, who were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Osasuna.