Real Madrid lose ground on title race after shock defeat against Levante
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Ten-man Real Madrid lost 2-1 against Levante at home. Real Madrid now trail Atletico Madrid by 7 points and the latter have 2 games in hand.
Defender Eder Militao received a direct red card in the 9th minute for a professional challenge on Sergio Leon. Real Madrid went into the fixture without club captain Sergio Ramos and coach Zidane both of whom were unavailable.
Sergio Ramos looked from the stands as Madrid lost
Real Madrid actually turned up for this game. Players were fluid with their positioning and movement off of the ball. Nobody was shying away from responsibility. And importantly they looked dangerous at times.
Four minutes after going down to ten man, Real took the lead through Marco Asensio, who scored from Kroos’s wonderful assist. Jose Luis Morales equalized for the visitors before half-time as Levante enjoyed more possession in the latter stages of the 1st half.
The visitors then dominated the second half as Real’s tired legs gave way. Levante had a great chance to take the lead when Vinicius gave away a penalty for a tackle on Clerc inside the box.
Courtois saved the penalty kick from Marti to keep the game level at 1-1. However, Marti made amends for his earlier penalty miss as he scored from a beautiful training ground corner routine in the 78th minute. Real Madrid never looked like coming back from that blow as Levante kept the ball and drained the hosts out.
Madrid keeper Courtois acknowledged that tiredness did a play a part in the side’s loss as playing with ten men for over 80 minutes is never an easy task.
“When big decisions go against you it’s always going to be an uphill battle. In the second half we were so tired and we couldn’t react,” said Courtois.
Real Madrid next face Huesca away from home. Ramos is expected to return for the fixture thus boosting their defence which has looked shaky without his presence.
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