Vitoria (Spain): Real Madrid’s miserable run of results sank to a new low as they suffered a shock 0-1 defeat at Alaves in La Liga Saturday, marking their longest run without scoring in over 33 years.
Veteran midfielder Manu Garcia headed home after the ball hit the crossbar following a corner in the fifth minute of added-on time to send the raucous home crowd into ecstasy as Alaves climbed to third in the standings – tied on 14 points along with second-placed Real and leaders Barcelona.
Alaves are the fourth team in a row to stop Real scoring and coach Julen Lopetegui will face further scrutiny with this defeat, which followed a 0-1 loss at CSKA Moscow in the Champions League, a 0-3 thrashing at Sevilla and a goalless draw with Atletico Madrid.
“This is a very tough moment and it’s clear that the coach is the first person responsible,” Lopetegui said after the match.
Embattled Real boss Lopetegui made five changes to the team that limped to defeat in Moscow, recalling Sergio Ramos and Gareth Bale while leaving out Marco Asensio.
Lopetegui was forced to take early action in the second half due to an injury to Karim Benzema, bringing on centre forward Mariano Diaz which briefly led to Real playing a more direct game.
The former Spain coach also brought in Vinicius Jr in place of Bale and had earlier withdrawn defensive midfielder Casemiro for Asensio in a desperate bid to find a goal.
Alaves continued to snaffle out any danger, though, and when the deadlock was finally broken it was down the other end off the head of Garcia, who turned the visitors’ frustrations into despair.