Real Madrid suffered their first home defeat at El Sadar Stadium since 2011, losing 2-1 to Osasuna in the 25th round of La Liga.
Álvaro Arbeloa made three changes to his defense, bringing in Dani Carvajal, Raúl Asensio, and David Alaba. This trio hadn’t featured much recently, which, along with the rest of their teammates, left them looking out of sorts in the first half, which saw the home side dominate.
In the 38th minute, Osasuna deservedly took the lead, although the goal came under controversial circumstances. The referee initially ruled that Ante Budimir had dived inside the penalty area, but after a VAR review, it was determined that Thibaut Courtois had fouled him, resulting in a penalty kick. The Croatian striker stepped up to take it, and as expected, he made no mistake.
There’s no doubt Arbeloa was furious with his team at halftime, and his words seemed to have a magical effect in the second half. Real Madrid looked much improved, and Los Blancos equalized when Federico Valverde delivered a pinpoint cross that Vinicius Junior converted, scoring his fourth goal in as many games.
Real Madrid pressed hard for a winner in the final minutes, but ultimately, they were caught out. Raúl Moro passed the ball to substitute Raúl García, who skillfully bypassed Raúl Asensio before slotting it past Courtois. The goal was initially ruled offside, but VAR confirmed that the Osasuna number 9 was onside behind the last defender.
With this defeat, Real Madrid could lose their La Liga lead just under a week after securing it.
Barcelona will meet Levante on Sunday, and if they win, they will return to first place, which they lost after the 2-1 defeat to Girona last Monday, and the gap between them and Real Madrid will be one point in favor of the Catalan club.
