Eden Hazard’s return changed the offensive nature for Real Madrid for the better on Sunday in a home outing against the visiting Eibar, who went down to a 3-1 defeat with barely a peep.

Real Madrid was playing at their training venue, the Alfredo Di Stefano stadium, because of renovation work that had been accelerated but not completed during the coronavirus lockdown at Santiago Bernabeu, their home base, and carved out an easy win over Eibar in their first outing in three months, advancing to just two points behind La Liga’s No. 1 squad, Barcelona, who had drubbed Real Mallorca 4-0.

Ten games remain in the regular La Liga season, but the race for the title looks tight, with neither Real Madrid nor Barcelona looking particularly enervated despite the long lockdown hiatus.