Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Real Madrid 0 Real Betis 1: Five things you missed in Cristiano Ronaldo’s unhappy return to La Liga action

An inspired performance from former Real keeper Antonio Adan and a late Antonio Sanabria goal condemn champions to first defeat of season 

Thursday 21 September 2017 07:30 BST
Comments
Cristiano Ronaldo missed Real's last five Liga games through suspension
Cristiano Ronaldo missed Real's last five Liga games through suspension (Getty Images)

Real Madrid suffered a shock 1-0 home defeat to Real Betis on Wednesday as an inspired performance from their former goalkeeper Antonio Adan and a stoppage-time winner from Antonio Sanabria stunned the champions on Cristiano Ronaldo's first league start of the season.

Sanabria had an effort disallowed for offside in the final minute of normal time, but rose highest to head in a 94th minute winner to secure a memorable backs-to-the-wall victory.

In an eventful first half, both sides exchanged efforts with Sanabria and Real's Ronaldo seeing efforts cleared off the line in the early stages.

Both teams' goalkeepers pulled off smart saves as the honours remained even heading into the break, but Madrid cranked up the pressure after the restart, laying siege to Adan’s goal. Dani Carvajal and Gareth Bale both hit the woodwork and Real Madrid's youth team product Adan pulled off a number of stunning saves in to frustrate the home crowd.

Here are some key points from the night:

Unhappy Bernabeu

The defeat leaves Real Madrid without a win in their three home La Liga games this season and in seventh place in the table, seven points behind leaders Barcelona, who beat Eibar 6-1 on Tuesday.

Barca ride high

Newspaper Marca lays out the bare facts. "The scoring streak ends and Los Blancos are now 7 points behind Barcelona"

Sanabria the star

Ronaldo, Bale, Modric, Kroos and co were all outshone by 21-year-old Sanabria, who capped his performance with a memorable winner in stoppage time.

Adan gets his revenge

Antonio Adan left Real Madrid in 2013 after graduating from the club's youth academy. He only made seven appearances for the first-team but he gave the club a reminder of his calibre here, keeping out Real's seven shots on target.

Real’s record ends

Real's all-time Spanish record of scoring in 73 successive games came to an end.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in