The shadows of the El Classico re-surfaced on Sunday when Villarreal sank the Real Madrid ship in a La Liga encounter at the Camp El Madrigal.
Villarreal defeated the Los Blancos 1-0 and left their opponents five points off the La Liga top spot in the points table.
Former Tottenham Hotspur player Roberto Soldado's early strike helped Marcelino's men outclass Spanish heavyweights Real Madrid on Sunday.
Soldado found the back of the net in the eighth minute of the match. Bakambu treated Soldado with a delicious cross and the latter guided the ball into the back of the net through Keylor Navas' legs.
Surprisingly, Villarreal could have netted a few more in the first half as Real Madrid defense were in tatters every time Marcelino's men in yellow threatened their opponents with a counter-attack. Cristiano Ronaldo & co. will be thanking their stars as they did not concede more than one goal on Sunday at the El Madrigal.
The second half of the game showed a much more compact defensive play from Real Madrid. Marcelo returned to his favourite left back position and immediately proved in the game against Villarreal why he is such a crucial player in that position.
Karim Benzema had a number of chances to equalise for Real Madrid in the second half but he could not convert any. Someone of his class should have showed more composure and conviction in front of the goal against Villarreal.
Ronaldo and Benzema were wayward as they could not even manage to take proper shots at the target against Villarreal. Real Madrid had just one shot on target and it is indeed shocking to believe with the kind of players they have in their lineup.
Real Madrid could have inched closer to the top of the points table where Barcelona and Atletico Madrid are sitting at the top with 35 points. It was a golden opportunity for Rafa Benitez and his men as Barcelona dropped points against Deportivo La Coruna in their last fixture of the La Liga.
Benitez have a lot to worry about after this game. This was not the kind of performance he would have expected from his boys after they blasted eight goals past Malmo in the UEFA Champions League in their last fixture. Their unbeaten streak of five games were broken by Villarreal on Sunday.
Let's have a look at the goal that stalled Real Madrid's progress:
All Goals Villarreal vs Real Madrid 2015 1-0... by HDGoalTV
Let us take a look at the full highlights of the game:
Villarreal vs Real Madrid 1-0 Full Highlights... by Movie_HD_2015
