MADRID — Real Madrid recovered from an early scare to beat Valladolid 4-1 in the Spanish league on Sunday, halting its three-match losing streak and easing some of the pressure on coach Santiago Solari.
Madrid was outplayed by its relegation-threatened rival early on and was fortunate to go into the break at 1-1. Karim Benzema and Luka Modric scored after the interval to help Madrid end its slump.
Solari's Madrid was coming off a humiliating 4-1 loss to Ajax that eliminated the team in the round of 16 of the Champions League, and before that, it had lost two in a row to Barcelona—in the semifinal of the Copa del Rey, and in the league.