Real Madrid 0 Villarreal 1Villarreal piled the pressure on under-fire Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane as they snatched a 1-0 win over the struggling La Liga champions at the Bernabeu. Real reached the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey — where they will face Leganes — in midweek, but started the day 16 points behind rivals Barcelona in the league. Villarreal started the second period brightly and half-time substitute Denis Cheryshev fired wide on 47 minutes after taking advantage of some hesitant defending, before Kroos volleyed straight at Asenjo at the other end. Modric also forced Asenjo into a routine save before the former Tottenham player blazed over the bar from 15 yards with 10 minutes remaining. And the home side were made to pay for such profligacy when Villarreal grabbed the winner on the counter-attack after clearing a poor Real corner.

Source: The Irish Times January 13, 2018 17:37 UTC