Real tasted bitter fruit in the first match of the year

Coach Carlo Ancelotti and his team ended their unbeaten streak when they lost 1-2 to Valencia in round 17 of La Liga.

CR7 opened the scoring from the 11m mark but could not bring Real even a single point. Photo: AFP

This is Real's first loss of points after 22 consecutive wins in all competitions (a Spanish football record), and also the third loss for Ancelotti's team since the beginning of the 2014-2015 La Liga season after two defeats against Atletico Madrid and Real Sociedad.

Things were going well for the European champions until Barragan levelled the score at 1-1 in the 52nd minute with a deflected shot. Shortly after, a bad result came against goalkeeper Iker Casillas and a decisive header from Otamendi. The two goals were enough to deny Cristiano Ronaldo the opening goal from the penalty spot.

With fifth place before the match on January 4, Valencia deserved to be Real's opponent in the first match of the year. And the Mestalla team did not disappoint the home crowd from the first minutes when they continuously put pressure on the field in front of goalkeeper Casillas.

Real's opening goal was the result of a rare effective attack against Valencia. It started when Gareth Bale's header hit Alvaro Negredo's hand in the box. Ronaldo then accurately scored the penalty for his 25th goal of the season in the domestic arena.

The match could have been decided early in the 25th minute if CR7 had successfully taken advantage of the opportunity to double the gap. In this phase, the Real striker went past goalkeeper Diego Alves to face an empty goal. But the final shot went into the side of the net instead of the goal.

Valencia (white shirt) stood firm against the attacking pressure of the European champions.

Ronaldo's surprise miss may have cost Real dearly as they had little chance of getting a better one afterwards. Valencia, on the other hand, were constantly finding the weak points in the visitors' defence to exploit. Goalkeeper Casillas almost had to pick the ball out of his own net twice in the first half. Once, the ball bounced off centre-back Pepe and went out of bounds, and the other time it hit the post.

Real failed to learn from Valencia's warning attacks at the end of the first half and conceded two goals in quick succession early in the second half. Barragan equalised with a shot that deflected off a defender and into the net, leaving Casillas helpless, while Otamendi's winner came with a fine header from a corner kick.

Valencia showed Real that life is not always as easy as they think. Photo: AFP.

The remaining 25 minutes of the match were not enough for Real to find an equalizer while Ronaldo, Ramos and Isco all proved unlucky. Isco had a close-range header that hit goalkeeper Alves' hand after Marcelo's cross. Valencia could have even led 3-1 if Barragan had finished more skillfully on another opportunity.

With a surprising victory, the Mestalla team rose to fourth place with 34 points after 17 rounds. Real still leads with 39 points despite playing one match less. This position could be lost to Barca if this team wins against Sociedad in the late match of round 17.

According to VNE