Real Madrid miss out on top spot in La Liga with a narrow defeat to Villarreal

Real Madrid lost 2–1 to Vil­lar­real and missed an oppor­tu­ni­ty to put pres­sure on lead­ers Barcelona in the race for the La Liga title.

Jere­mi­ah Pino put Vil­lar­real ahead ear­ly in the sec­ond half, but Madrid strik­er Karim Ben­ze­ma equal­ized from the penal­ty spot an hour later.

Short­ly after­wards, Vil­lar­real regained the lead when Ger­ar­do Moreno scored from Madrid defend­er David Alaba’s hand­ball penalty.

The result keeps Madrid in sec­ond place, lev­el on points with Barça, who face Atléti­co Madrid on Sunday.