BARCELONA: Karim Benzema scored twice to lead Real Madrid to a 3-1 win at Racing Santander Sunday as the Spanish giants stayed within seven points of Spanish league leader Barcelona. With leading scorer Cristiano Ronaldo out with an injury, Madrid turned to German playmaker Mesut Oezil to steer the attack with Benzema and Emmanuel Adebayor playing together as strikers for the first time.Oezil responded with a pair of beautiful assists for Adebayor in the 23rd minute and Benzema in the 27th as Madrid dominated early on. Despite his team's impressive performance, Madrid coach Jose Mourinho did not see Barcelona relinquishing its hold on the league with 11 weeks to go. “I don't expect Barcelona to slip up,” he said. “I play my league and try to win the most games I can.” Earlier, Athletic Bilbao moved into the Europa League positions after beating Sevilla 2-0. Also, Sporting Gijon moved out of the relegation zone after beating Getafe 2-0, Felipe Caicedo gave Levante a 1-0 win over Espanyol, and Almeria came from behind to beat Hercules 2-1. Osasuna downed last-place Malaga 1-0. Van Gaal to leave Bayern Coach Louis van Gaal will leave Bayern Munich at the end of the season, one year before his contract was due to expire, a German newspaper said Monday. Van Gaal won the German double in his first season at Bayern and reached the Champions League final, but the club has slumped to fifth in the Bundesliga and has been eliminated from the German Cup.
