Real Madrid suffer shock defeat against Villarreal

Real Madrid fell to a 2-1 defeat against Villarreal in Castellon on Saturday evening after a tight LaLiga Santander contest.

Villarreal took the lead through Yeremi Pino as the second half began but were soon pegged back by a Karim Benzema penalty. The lead was quickly restored by another penalty that was scored by Gerard Moreno.

The best chance of the first half came for Villarreal early in the game as Francis Coquelin hit the frame of the goal.

There were some decent openings for Los Blancos though with the likes of Eder Militao, Vinicius Jr and Benzema all having chances to open the scoring in eastern Spain.

Interestingly, it was reported by Opta that the game against Villareal was the first ever for Real Madrid where they have not named a single Spaniard in the starting eleven.

As soon as the second half began, Carlo Ancelotti's side found themselves 1-0 down after Pino netted. Ferland Mendy played a stray pass into midfield which was intercepted.

Villarreal worked the ball forward quickly and found Pino on the left in the box. He steadied himself and shot with the ball finding its way into the net with the help of Mendy on the line.

On the hour mark, Real Madrid managed to get level from the spot. Vinicius Jr was calling for a handball on the goal line which wasn't given but whilst doing the check, a previous handball was discovered. Benzema stepped up to calmly slot the penalty into the bottom right corner.

Parity lasted just three minutes though for Los Blancos because Moreno soon made it 2-1, also from the spot for a handball. Similarly to Benzema just minutes before, it was a low finish into the corner.

That put the onus on Real Madrid once again to attack and find another equaliser to ensure they do not suffer a surprising defeat.

They were not able to do so and it means that Barcelona have the chance to go three points clear at the top of LaLiga Santander if they beat Atletico Madrid on Sunday. Villarreal rise to fifth in the table.