Real Madrid 1 - Getafe 0

Madrid: Casillas; Michel Salgado, Pavón, Iván Helguera, Roberto Carlos; Beckham, Pablo García, Guti, Zidane; Robinho (Baptista 46'), Ronaldo (Gravesen 86'). 4-4-2.
Getafe: Calatayud; Contra, Belenguer, Tena (Craioveanu 75'), Pernía; Diego Rivas, Celestini; Mario Cotelo (Nano 68'), Paunovic, Riki; Güiza (Pachón 68'). 4-2-3-1.

Team changes: Madrid: Beckham, Ronaldo for Sergio Ramos, Diogo / Getafe: Contra for Gavilán.

Goals:
1-0. 17. Ronaldo. Picked up Zidane return pass and ran on to shoot in off post.

Real Madrid moved back up into the top four pending Sunday's matches after a narrow 1-0 win over neighbours Getafe. It was not an impressive performance though by the "Galacticos", and at times it appeared that their opponents were the home team. Bernd Schuster's side pushed forward right from the start, with Riki causing serious problems on his return to the Bernabeu stadium, even hitting the crossbar from a wide angle early on.

But with just over a quarter of an hour on the clock Ronaldo (returning to the line up after an injury) picked up a return pass from Zidane and ran on powerfully past Contra to poke a shot past Calatayud and in off the post, referee Teixeira Vitienes ignoring the visitors' claims that the Brazilian striker controlled the ball with his arm on the way through.

The rest of the first half though belonged to Getafe, with Teixeira turning down appeals for penalties on Paunovic and Güiza, and Pernía testing Casillas with a free kick. Luxemburgo decided to replace the off-form Robinho with Baptista at the break, but things didn't change, Riki wasting a chance to equalise on a rapid breakaway and Casillas keeping out a spectacular volley from Pernía.

Ten minutes after the restart Madrid were left with ten men after Beckham was sent off for a hard tackle on Riki, the England captain facing up to Schuster on his way off the field after the visiting coach made a disparaging remark. Guti did have a chance to increase the lead soon afterwards but otherwise there was little reaction, and when Luxemburgo replaced Ronaldo with Gravesen there were boos from the crowd.

Eventually though the hosts held on for the three points, but it was not enough to save the coach from being fired by Florentino Pérez and his board of directors the following day. Luxemburgo will be replaced by B team manager Juan Ramón López Caro, who has been given three games until the Christmas break to prove what he can do. The nets are out trawling the market, but with five coaches now filling the dole queues since Pérez took over, will there be many takers?