Result: Real Betis 2-1 Real Madrid
Date: 08 March 2020
Venue: Estadio Benito Villamarin
Real Madrid failed to secure top spot in LaLiga after falling to a 2-1 defeat to Real Betis, with a former FC Barcelona player netting the winning goal.
Dani Carvajal and Federico Valverde dropped out for Eder Militao and Lucas Vazquez after Zinedine Zidane made two changes from last Sunday's El Clasico win over FC Barcelona.
After a tentative start, Madrid pushed forward towards the 20th minute mark and found Marcelo at the end of a wild volley which fizzled wide following a cross from Vazquez.
Betis regained momentum on the half-hour mark as a free-kick from Nabil Fekir connected with Marc Bartra, who headed over the top from close-range.
However, Madrid were behind ten minutes to halftime when Sidnei pounced on a loose ball from a corner to slam past Thibaut Courtois from the near post.
Sidnei turned from hero to villain on the stroke of halftime after his foul on Marcelo inside the area led to a penalty, which Karim Benzema dispatched with ease to level matters in the encounter.
Betis had a big chance to go back in front minutes inside the second half through Joaquin, who rounded Courtois for a tap in, but Luka Modric came to the rescue with a timeous clearance.
Marcelo struggled to carry on towards the 60th minute and slowly walked off the field for Ferland Mendy while Betis added more firepower in their bid to go back in front six minutes later, as Joaquin made way for former Barcelona winger Cristian Tello.
A loose ball around the area found Modric who brought Joel Robles to a save with a fine shot before Mendy cracked the crossbar on the rebound 11 minutes later.
Betis regained the lead eight minutes to full-time when a poor back pass from Sergio Ramos found Andres Guardado, who played a through ball for Tello to slot past Courtois.
Los Blancos looked for a quick reply as full-time loomed, but the visitors held on to throw the title race wide open.
