Real Madrid 4 - Tenerife 1

Real Madrid: César; Michel Salgado, Hierro, Pavón, Roberto Carlos; Makelele, Flavio Conceiçao; Figo (McManaman 75'), Raúl, Munitis (Savio 60'); Morientes (Guti 24'). 4-2-3-1.
Tenerife: Sergio Aragoneses; Manel (Jordi Ocaña 52'), Mustafá, Alexis, Lussenhoff (Bruno Marioni 73'), Basavilbaso; Javi Venta, Bino (Jaime 60'), Antonio Hidalgo, Martí; Bichi Fuertes. 5-4-1.

Team changes: Madrid: Pavón, Roberto Carlos, Flavio Conceiçao, Munitis for Iván Helguera, Raúl Bravo, Zidane, Solari / Tenerife: Sergio Aragoneses, Manel, Basavilbaso, Javi Venta for Julio Iglesias, Bermudo, Xisco, Bruno Marioni.

Goals:
1-0. 17. Roberto Carlos. Low free kick through defensive wall into bottom corner.
1-1. 39. Javi Venta. Lobbed ball over advancing César after Fuertes pass.
2-1. 43. Figo. Headed down past keeper from Raúl's chipped cross.
3-1. 76. Guti. Turned and shot inside far post after Roberto Carlos cross.
4-1. 84. Guti. Ran on to Savio cross to shoot low past Aragoneses.

Real Madrid and Barcelona both brought forward their games to Saturday to give them time to prepare for the big match, the Champions League semi-final on Tuesday night. Real Madrid started the day in second place, and they put the pressure on leaders Valencia with an easy 4-1 victory over bottom club Tenerife. With Iván Helguera suspended and Zidane and Solari both injured playing for their countries midweek, Del Bosque made four changes, with Flavio and Munitis both making rare starts for the side, Roberto Carlos returning after a one match ban and Pavón back in the line up having recovered from his back problems. Clemente had trouble finding an attack with Marioni still not fully fit, although he could finally count on Bichi Fuertes after the disciplinary committee delayed their decision on whether to ban him following his diving incident a couple of weeks ago. The manager also had to change his goalkeeper after Julio Iglesias pulled out late on with an injury.

With Zidane out Figo took over the role of play-maker, and he won his side a free kick with just over a quarter of an hour gone. The Portuguese winger lined up to take the kick, but it was Roberto Carlos who struck the ball low through a gap in the defensive wall to open the scoring. Guti was forced to come on earlier than he had expected when Morientes limped off, and the striker is now likely to miss Tuesday's visit to the Nou Camp. Raúl brought a good save out of Aragonés with a surprise shot from the left, but soon afterwards Tenerife equalised, Javi Venta catching César off his line on a rapid counter attack a few minutes before the break. Their joy only lasted four minutes though before Figo headed Raúl's chipped cross down past Aragoneses to restore the lead, and they could have gone further behind if the keeper had not made another good save from Roberto Carlos on the stroke of half time.

Raúl missed a couple of good chances after the restart, the first when he shot wide and the second after a good run, the international forward choosing to shoot at the keeper rather than pass in to Guti who was better placed. Tenerife were starting to prove dangerous on the counterattack though, and César was good enough to stop shots from Martí and Jordi when they managed to penetrate the defence. Clemente had been playing a five man defence for this match, but he decided it was time to play his trump card, Marioni coming on for Lussenhoff to try and force the draw. That was all Madrid needed though, and Roberto Carlos took advantage of the extra space to find Guti for him to put the result beyond doubt. For once Del Bosque rested his key players, and Savio came on to stake his claim for more first team football, first with a pass in for Guti to get his second of the night and then with a shot which brushed the rectangle. Bichi Fuertes rounded off a bad night for Tenerife by getting himself sent off for the second time in three games for insulting the referee, and his side now need a minor miracle to avoid relegation. Madrid moved top of the table temporarily, although Valencia's win over Deportivo the following day put them back into second place, a point behind their rivals.