Real Madrid lost ground on Barcelona at the top of La Liga on Saturday night as they fell to an surprising defeat to Levante.
Match Report
Real Madrid slumped to a shock 1-0 defeat at Levante thanks to Jose Luis Morales' stunning late winner, as Los Blancos produced a toothless display and lost Eden Hazard to injury ahead of a pivotal week.
Zinedine Zidane's men created the better chances in Valencia but were wasteful in front of goal, and Morales' glorious strike means Madrid head into next weekend's Clasico trailing leaders Barcelona – who thrashed Eibar 5-0 earlier on Saturday – by two points and possibly without the injured Hazard.
Karim Benzema was particularly culpable in the first 45 minutes, spurning a glorious opportunity early on, while Hazard – who was withdraw with what appeared to be a calf issue in the second period – also squandered a presentable chance after half-time.
Levante became a more prominent threat going forward following the interval and ultimately sealed an unlikely win through Morales' fierce effort 11 minutes from time, with Madrid heading into the first leg of their Champions League last-16 encounter against Manchester City on the back of a woeful result.
La Liga Standings
Match Events
16' CLOSE! Casemiro's header wide out
Kroos whips a corner into the box and it's a poor punch by Fernandez. He gives it to Casemiro and he heads it back towards goal, but his effort is just wide of the far post.
40' CHANCE! Modric's long shot denied
Isco squares the ball to Modric, who is unmarked just outside the penalty area, and he sets himself for the shot. It's a good hit, but it's straight at the goalkeeper who pushes it away with strong hands.
58' Courtois makes brilliant save
Campana is a long way out from goal but decides to have a go when some space opens up. He drills his shot towards goal and a big deflection off Ramos makes it difficult for Courtois but he manages to push it away from the bottom corner.
60' AGAIN! Benzema misses a good chance!
Mayoral breaks quickly through the middle for Levante but is being tightly marked by Kroos the whole way. He holds it up on the edge of the box before squaring it to Marti, but his low shot is straight at Courtois who makes the save.
67' Injured Hazard subbed off by Vinicius
Hazard limps off the field as Vinicius comes on in his place. That injury could be worrying for Zidane as his team have big matches against Manchester City and Barcelona in the next week.
79' GOAL! Levante 1-0 Real Madrid (Morales)
Morales times his run perfectly to stay onside and Modric just can't get close to him. He lets the ball bounce in front of him before hitting his shot on the volley from a tight angle on the left of the box and Courtois is beaten at his near post.
83' Unbelievable! What a miss from Benzema
Vinicius plays a clever one-two with Marcelo to create more space down the left before cutting into the box and squaring his cross into Benzema. Gonzalez slides in just ahead of him to stop him from having an easy tap-in.
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