Levante defeat deepens Real Madrid crisis

The early kick off on Saturday was Julen Lopetegui's opportunity to relieve pressure on his job and restore his team to winning ways, but it only served to do the absolute opposite. 

The former Spain coach's tenure at the helm of 'los blancos' looks unlikely to survive much longer after the dour defeat to the hands of lowly Levante left his team with a record of only four wins in nine La Liga records. 

The team news created headlines on its own as Karim Benzema and Toni Kroos were left out of the starting lineup, despite them both seeming to be fully fit to play. 

The match could not have started much worse for Real as they fell behind in only the seventh minute. 

The move was typical of the pattern of the match with Real pressurising high up the pitch with little end product, before being caught on the counter attack.

After a move broke down a hopeful ball was punted up-field. Static defending left Jose Luis Morales free and he brought the ball down brilliantly, deftly touching it beyond Thibaut Courtois and finishing into an empty net. 

Madrid barely had time to respond before things got even worse. As Levante threatened again Raphael Varane handled the ball on the edge of his own box and a free kick was originally given.

However after consultation with VAR a penalty was awarded and Roger made no mistake from the spot, at which point it is uncertain who was in more disbelief, the Levante fans or the Real Madrid ones. 

For the rest of the first half Real rallied and only a combination of VAR, Oier Olzabel's fantatic reactions and the woodwork maintained the Valencia club's 2-0 advantage.

First of all Marco Asensio looked to have halved the deficit but he was adjudged by the video official to have been offside after Sergio Ramos' previous header had hit the bar

Then in the 34th minute Mariano Diaz sent a powerful header towards goal, which was kept out by a combination of Oier and the crossbar. 

Before half time it looked for all the world that the 13 time Champions League winners would go in at 2-1 but Oier saved from Lucas Vasquez at point blanc range. 

At the break Gareth Bale was introduced to try and get back into the game, but despite Real Madrid applying pressure no real chances were created. 

Levante remained a threat on the break and could have been 3-0 up but selfishness from Rochina meant that the chance went begging. 

The reinforcements continued to come for Real as Karim Benzema and Dani Ceballos came on for Isco and Asensio.

With 66 minutes gone Bale came close to scoring with a curling free kick but Oier was again equal to it. 

In the 71st  minute Real got their lifeline, coming from an unlikely source in Marcelo. 

It was Benzema who fed the Brazilian defender with a simple pass after collecting an over hit cross

Marcelo did phenomenally well to take a touch and unleash a fantastic strike into the top corner with his weaker foot. 

However the come back would not be completed as the post denied Benzema a fantastic goal from outside the box and VAR ruled out a goal for Mariano as he bundled in a rebound from an offside postion.

After four minutes of added time Levante emerged victorious after a fantastic display, which may well mean that Lopetegui loses his job.

The European giants have rarely been at a lower point and today's performance was symptomatic of their plight.