Zidane fumes over Madrid's 'worst loss of season'

Real Madrid's response to winning El Clasico was a surprise 2-1 defeat at Real Betis on Sunday to hand the title initiative straight back to Barcelona.

Betis was the deserving victor of a thrilling contest in Seville where two galling Madrid errors cost it top spot in La Liga, with Barca now two points clear.

A heavy touch from Sergio Ramos led to Sidnei's stunning opener for Betis before Karim Benzema, who equalized with a penalty on the stroke of halftime, was at fault for the host's 82nd-minute winner.

Benzema's misplaced pass in midfield allowed substitute Cristian Tello to go clear and he held his nerve to give Betis its first victory in eight games that adds yet another twist to this season's back-and-forth title race.

"We lacked everything today," said Real coach Zinedine Zidane.

"It was our worst game of the season. We lacked energy, fluency, possession, aggression. It was a bad day and that can happen. I am responsible. We can't lose our heads but we can't be happy either."

Madrid appeared to have taken a significant step forward, at least psychologically, by beating Barcelona 2-0 last weekend but this result undid all their good work at the Santiago Bernabeu while bringing defensive doubts swiftly back to the surface.

Betis climbs to 12th and put eight points between itself and the bottom three.

Madrid has now lost three of its last four games and won only two from seven, a dip in form that has appeared even more charitable given Barca's own problems on and off the pitch.

After a game at home to Eibar on Friday, Zidane's side will travel to Manchester City in the Champions League but on this evidence its hopes of recovering from 2-1 a first-leg defeat would seem faint.

Ramos will be suspended at the Etihad Stadium and his own poor run of form continued against Betis, where he was at fault for their first goal and then compounded Benzema's error for the second.

"We haven't played the way we trained all week," said Ramos. "We have to be self-critical. And now we have to wait for those above us to slip up."

Eder Militao will likely come in for Ramos against City and he was given an outing at rightback in the absence of the ill Dani Carvajal, while Marcelo was preferred to Ferland Mendy on the opposite side.

Gareth Bale was left out of the starting line-up for a fourth match running.

Elsewhere, Espanyol's relegation worries deepened after a 1-0 loss at Osasuna, with Chinese striker Wu Lei's side now six points from safety.

Agence France-Presse