La liga: Madrid suffer fourth defeat in five games

Real Madrid suffered their fourth loss in five games and set an unwanted record with a defeat by Levante at the Bernabeu.

The result put further pressure on coach Julen Lopetegui, whose side remain fifth in La Liga, three points behind leaders Alaves and a point behind Barcelona, who have yet to play.
Lopetegui’s side were stung twice inside 13 minutes when first Jose Luis Morales and then Roger Marti, from the spot, scored.
Real produced several great chances, with the woodwork and great saves from Oier Olazabal coming to the rescue for the visitors.
The final line of defence was finally breached in the 72nd minute when Marcelo fired a rocket past the Levante stopper – that ended a run of 482 minutes of scoring, although it came 17 minutes too late to prevent them from breaking the mark set back in 1985.
Real Madrid director Emilio Butragueno backed coach Lopetegui in the lead-up to the match, but with an important game in the Champions League coming up and El Clasico next weekend, there could be renewed pressure for the Los Blancos chiefs to act.
Mid-table Levante seemed the perfect opponent to face, but with a front-line led by the precocious Jose Luis Morales, the visitors had no intention of playing for a point.

Varane at fault for both Levante goals

They attacked from the first whistle and took the lead with only six minutes on the clock. Morales kept his eyes on Sergio Postigo’s long ball, as Raphael Varane failed to, took the ball around keeper Thibaut Courtois and slotted in.
It was soon 2-0. Frenchman Varane was at fault again, when he handled inside the area. The referee initially gave a free-kick before VAR ruled the defender had handled in the area. Marti fired in the penalty to leave the home support stunned and Lopetegui crestfallen.
VAR also ruled out goals scored by Real’s Marco Asensio and Mariano.
And when Levante’s attack was not causing problems for Real, their keeper Oier was frustrating them at the other end.
Oier, who conceded nine goals playing for Granada at the Bernabeu in 2015, pushed a Casemiro header on to the bar, blocked Lucas Vasquez’s point-blank shot with his foot and pushed away Gareth Bale’s free-kick.
Both Bale and striker Karim Benzema had been brought on in the second half, but it was veteran full-back Marcelo who made the breakthrough when he smacked an effort past Oier 18 minutes from time.
Real tried their utmost to find a second, but Levante’s impressive defence held out for a memorable win.
BBC