La Liga champions Barcelona slumped to a shock 2-1 defeat at struggling Leganes. And then Real Madrid were resoundingly beaten 3-0 by Sevilla on Wednesday. Both the Spanish powerhouses lost on the same day for the first time since January, 2015.
Barcelona squandered an early Philippe Coutinho goal and lost 2-1 to last place Leganes. It’s bad, but it’s nothing compared to the indignity suffered by three-time defending UEFA Champions League winners Real Madrid. They were on the wrong end of a 3-0 mauling on the road against Sevilla. It marked the first time both clubs — who have between them won the last five Champions League titles and six of the last eight — lost on the same day in almost four years.
Barcelona’s downfall
Barcelona’s loss came as Lionel Messi made his 700th appearance with the club, including 55 unofficial games. Messi’s celebration of his milestone match with the Catalan club was marred by a Leganes team which had only one point from its first five league games and was coming off three straight losses. The club from Madrid’s suburbs had never earned a point against Barcelona in its three seasons in the first division.
Nabil El Zhar headed home a looping cross in the 52nd minute to cancel out Coutinho’s goal. And barely 60 seconds later, Oscar Rodriguez scored thw winner to the joy of the 12,000 fans crammed into Butarque Stadium. Oscar is a former member of Real Madrid’s youth teams who is on loan with Leganes. It came after a bad mistake by Barcelona defender Gerard Pique, who gave the ball away while trying to clear it from inside the area.
It was the second consecutive setback for the defending champions. “We lost five points in three days.” Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde said. “Sometimes it’s difficult to explain what happens in a game. You have a game under control and then the opposition can do damage like they (Leganes) did in one minute.” Valverde added. “We wanted to get the second goal because a one goal lead is never enough. At 1-0 you’re close to an accident. We didn’t create the chances we’d have liked. That’s five points in three days gone and it’s difficult to explain.”
Real Madrid’s humiliating defeat
Barcelona’s unexpected loss handed Real Madrid the chance to move three points clear at the top of the table. But the European champions were outclassed by a rampant Sevilla. They scored all their goals in a livewire first half to inflict a first league defeat on Real Madrid under their new coach Julen Lopetegui.
Portugal forward Andre Silva scored in the 17th and 21st minutes to take his league-leading tally to six goals. And Wissam Ben Yedder added another in the 39th to leave Sevilla in control at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium.
Luka Modric’s goal early in the second half wascancelled after VAR showed he was offside. Marcelo appeared to injure a muscle midway through the second half but coach Julen Lopetegui had already made all three substitutions. So it left Real Madrid with 10 men on the pitch. All these resulted in their humiliating 3-0 defeat.
“It’s simple, we gave it away in the first half. Then it was impossible to come back.” Real Madrid midfielder Casemiro said. “We came here with the aim of putting pressure on Sevilla and we couldn’t do it as we wanted to, that’s obvious, and Sevilla were the far superior side.” Lopetegui told reporters. “Sevilla was better and deserved to win.” Lopetegui added. “We didn’t start the way we wanted and paid for it by conceding two quick goals.”
In January 2015, Real Madrid were beaten by Valencia, while Luis Enrique’s Barcelona side were downed by Real Sociedad. After almost 4 years Real Madrid and Barcelona were beaten on the same matchday in La Liga.
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