Real Madrid suffer nightmare before Christmas
Real Madrid's year ended on a depressing note when the Spanish giants were beaten 2-1 by Racing Santander in front of their own fans.
Real Madrid's year ended on a depressing note when the Spanish giants were beaten 2-1 by Racing Santander in front of their own fans.
"In my life, there have been many difficult things. I am going to take responsibility and I am going to work to the limit as there is still a lot of the league to go," said downcast Real coach Juan Ramon Lopez Caro.
First half goals by Ayoze Diaz and Felipe Melo grabbed the three points for Racing and left Real the two-week winter break to ponder how they are going to revitalize their season.
"We saw two different halves. In the first, they (Racing) showed great skill and deserved their 2-0 lead. In the second, we deserved to score on two other occasions. But finishing is fundamental to this game," added Lopez Caro.
The defeat means Real slip to fifth and they are now 11 points behind league leaders and bitter rivals Barcelona who beat Celta Vigo 2-0 on Tuesday, with Samuel Eto'o scoring both goals for the Catalan club.
Barcelona have 40 points from 17 games, five clear of second-placed Osasuna although the Pamplona-based side have a game in hand and play Atletico Madrid on Thursday.
Ayoze sent a swerving free kick from 20 metres past the Real wall, although it took a slight deflection, to breach the hosts' defenses after 20 minutes.
Melo then embarrassed the Spanish giants further just six minutes later when he wandered unhindered past three Madrid players before chipping the ball over falling Real keeper Iker Casillas.
Ronaldo got one back with a header after 67 minutes, and had another close effort late in the game, but Real left the field once again with the crowd whistling in their ears.
"We know we are going through difficult times," conceded Lopez Caro, who knows the pressure will inevitably increase on him after only taking over former Brazil boss Wanderley Luxemburgo two weeks ago.
Lopez Caro has won only one of his four games since taking over at the Real helm and has yet to taste victory in the Santiago Bernabeu stadium.
He was given the backing of Real president Florentino Perez until the end of the season on Monday but the former Real reserve team coach could find that he is looking for another job sooner if he fails to get better results quickly.
A further negative note was struck when David Beckham was booked early in the game.
The England captain will now miss Real's first league game of 2006, a tough away trip at Villarreal on January 8.
High-flying Villarreal might have expected more from a trip to Malaga but the Champions League side were held to a 0-0 draw at the Costa del Sol side to remain in fourth place.
Valencia, champions in twice in the last four seasons, climb from sixth to third after their emphatic 3-0 win over Real Mallorca.
David Albelda got Valencia's opener just seconds after the break with a right foot shot from just inside the area.
David Villa added an acrobatic second goal from inside the six yard box after 66 minutes and Fabio Aurelio completed a satisfying night for Valencia 10 minutes from time.
After three consecutive wins, fifth-placed Deportivo La Coruna were brought back to earth by losing 2-1 at home to 10-man Espanyol.
Espanyol lost a man shortly after half time when Moises Hurtado was dismissed for two quick-fire yellow cards.
However, against the odds, Espanyol managed to find the net late in the game from Fredson and Armando Sa before Deportivo's Diego Tristan got a consolation goal for the hosts five minutes from the whistle.
At the other end of the table, Real Betis got their first win in 10 games as they won 3-0 over fellow strugglers Alaves.
The result means that Betis send their opponents to the foot of the table.
Fernando Fernandez scored from close range three minutes into injury time at the end of the first half after Edu had skillfully pulled the ball back from the touchline.
Xisco Munoz and Joaquin Sanchez added second half goals for Betis.