Carlo Ancelotti rested first-choice players, such as Antonio Rudiger, Ferland Mendy and Vinicius Junior, and Madrid struggled for fluency. Espanyol even took the lead in the 54th minute with an own goal from Thibaut Courtois, who miscued a seemingly harmless shot into his net.

Real Madrid will be aiming to cut down the gap to arch-rivals Barcelona when they take on RCD Espanyol in La Liga in under a couple of hours at the Santiago Bernabeu.Having registered three

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Vinícius Júnior went off the bench to set up one goal and score another as Real Madrid topped a tenacious Espanyol 4-1 in the Spanish league on Saturday.