Real start to bid farewell to LaLiga

Real Madrid's title hopes took a big hit on Saturday as an early Eder Militao red card led to a 2-1 defeat to Levante at the Estadio Alfredo di Stefano.

The Brazilian defender was sent off for clipping Sergio Leon from behind before the clock had even reached double-digits, but a Marco Asensio goal suggested that the hosts could hang on. Levante would find their way back though, as a Jose Luis Morales goal later in the first half and a Roger Marti strike in the second half earned the visitors the three points.

Madrid are now seven points back of league leaders Atletico, with Los Colchoneros owning two games in hand.

Manager Zinedine Zidane was still absent due to Covid, so trusted assistant David Bettoni was the lead man on the bench, however with no Sergio Ramos, Dani Carvajal, Lucas Vazquez, Nacho, Fede Valverde and Rodrygo, some line-up shuffling was in order. That meant Adrian Odriozola enjoyed a rare start at right-back, Militao at centre back, while Asensio and Eden Hazard joined Karim Benzema up top.

Inside the first ten minutes, things took a turn for the worse for the home side when a Levante counter-attack saw Militao take down Sergio Leon from behind just outside the area. The Levante attacker was clearly in on goal and had just goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois to beat, and after initially being shown yellow, the Brazilian defender was sent off with a straight red courtesy of VAR.

The sending off seemed to galvanise Madrid for the moment, however, and minutes later they held a 1-0 lead thanks to an exquisite pass from Toni Kroos into Asensio, who finished with aplomb to break the deadlock. Levante howled that Mendy had committed a foul on Melero in the Madrid area prior to the Kroos pass, but no call was forthcoming from VAR and referee Medie Jimenez.

Levante were left groggy by the Madrid knockdown, but soon regained their footing and put their man advantage to work. The equaliser would come shortly after the half-hour mark with an inch-perfect cross from Jorge Miramon to Morales, who took it on the bounce and struck a perfect shot that beat Courtois to level things at 1-1.

The first Madrid change did not come until shortly before the hour mark, with Vinicius replacing Hazard. The Brazilian would be in the middle of things right away, but not exactly in a good way, as his foul on Clerc right on the edge of the area was ultimately ruled a penalty by VAR. Roger Marti stepped up to take the spot kick, but was denied by the outstretched hand of Courtois, keeping the score even.

Any bad thoughts for Roger lingering from his missed penalty dissipated the second he fired home to hand Levante a 2-1 lead with less than a quarter-hour to play. Bardhi did well to fizz a pass into Roger, who took a touch and then hammered in a right-footer for the goal.

With just minutes remaining, it was back to the bench for Madrid with Mariano on for Benzema, while youngster Sergio Arribas got his first significant minutes with the first team after replacing Asensio.

Many times before Madrid have summoned a last-minute miracle to get a result at home, but on this day things were different, as Levante saw things out to leave the capital city with the three points.

Source: Marca English