Real Madrid out of top four
Monday, 22 January 2018
MADRID, Jan 21 (AFP): Villarreal moved above Real Madrid and into the top four in La Liga after a 2-1 win over Levante on Saturday that piled more pressure on the struggling champions' coach Zinedine Zidane.
Valencia had two players sent off as they fell to a shock 2-1 defeat at lowly Las Palmas, while Atletico Madrid gave leaders Barcelona the chance to pull 11 points clear after only drawing 1-1 with Girona.
A 26th-minute penalty from Manu Trigueros and Real youth product Denis Cheryshev's first league goal in nearly two years saw Javier Calleja's side, who beat Real at the Santiago Bernabeu for the first time ever last week, move up to 34 points, two ahead of Real.
Zidane's team are fifth, level on 32 points with Sevilla, who crushed Espanyol 3-0 in a dominant display in Catalonia that gave Vincenzo Montella his first league win since arriving in Spain in late December.