Ten-man Real Madrid crashed to a 1-0 defeat at modest Levante on Sunday, a morale-sapping La Liga setback, coming just 24 hours after bitter rival Barcelona had staged an eight-goal master-class against Osasuna. Real had plenty of possession but Levante defended resolutely. Kaka missed an early chance and Karim Benzema was a danger, but Real's task became a lot harder following the dismissal of Sami Khedira for a second yellow card.
“I think that while we had eleven against eleven we were fine and the opposition never went further than the halfway line,” said Real coach Jose Mourinho. “There are players at Madrid who have not adapted to foul play and are not comfortable with it. One of my players (Khedira) was to blame because he knew what was going to happen.” “However, at the same time, we had a clear penalty which was not given and they should have had a player sent off. We should also have made more of the openings in the first half to win the match.” Napoli tops table A hat-trick from Edinson Cavani gave Napoli a 3-1 comeback win over defending champion AC Milan and top spot in Serie A. Napoli has a perfect six points from two matches and leads the table on goal difference from Juventus, Udinese and Cagliari, while Milan, with just a point from two games, is fourth from bottom. “We're not worried, everything is calm,” said Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri.
Udinese made it two wins from two as it got the better of Fiorentina at Stadio Friuli. Giuseppe Sculli gave Lazio the lead against the club he left in January, but Genoa fought back in the second half to secure a 2-1 victory courtesy of goals from Rodrigo Palacio and Juraj Kucka. Sebastian Giovinco scored a brace, including a winner in injury time, as Parma beat Chievo 2-1, while a Maxi Lopez penalty proved enough for Catania to beat Cesena in Sicily and Lecce ran out 2-0 winner at Bologna. In Sunday's early game, Palermo — conquerors of Inter last weekend — went down 1-0 at Atalanta in a match played in farcical conditions in Bergamo.
The match was delayed for 40 minutes in the second half to give the ground staff a chance to drain a pitch that had become waterlogged in torrential rain, but when the players returned, Palermo was unable to find a reply to German Denis' first-half opener for the host. The results: La Liga: Getafe 0 lost to Rayo Vallecano 1 (Michu 4); Zaragoza 2 (Luis Garcia 29, 90+1) bt Espanyol 1 (Javi Lopez 71); Atletico Madrid 4 (Falcao 23, 36-pen, 55, Adrian 78) bt Racing Santander 0; Levante 1 (Kone 68) bt Real Madrid 0; Athletic Bilbao 2 (De Marcos 37, David Lopez 86-pen) lost to Real Betis 3 (Etxebarria Urkiaga 7, Nacho 13, Sevilla 45+1-pen). Serie A: Atalanta 1 (Denis 34) bt Palermo 0; Bologna 0 lost to Lecce 2 (Giacomazzi 37, Grossmuller 60); Catania 1 (Maxi Lopez 45+2-pen) bt Cesena 0; Lazio 1 (Sculli 11) lost to Genoa 2 (Palacio 54, Kucka 72); Parma 2 (Giovinco 24, 90+2) bt Chievo 1 (Paloschi 80); Siena 0 lost to Juventus 1 (Matri 54); Udinese 2 (di Natale 8-pen, Isla 30) bt Fiorentina 0; Napoli 3 (Cavani 13, 36, 51) bt AC Milan 1 (Aquilani 11).
“I think that while we had eleven against eleven we were fine and the opposition never went further than the halfway line,” said Real coach Jose Mourinho. “There are players at Madrid who have not adapted to foul play and are not comfortable with it. One of my players (Khedira) was to blame because he knew what was going to happen.” “However, at the same time, we had a clear penalty which was not given and they should have had a player sent off. We should also have made more of the openings in the first half to win the match.” Napoli tops table A hat-trick from Edinson Cavani gave Napoli a 3-1 comeback win over defending champion AC Milan and top spot in Serie A. Napoli has a perfect six points from two matches and leads the table on goal difference from Juventus, Udinese and Cagliari, while Milan, with just a point from two games, is fourth from bottom. “We're not worried, everything is calm,” said Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri.
Udinese made it two wins from two as it got the better of Fiorentina at Stadio Friuli. Giuseppe Sculli gave Lazio the lead against the club he left in January, but Genoa fought back in the second half to secure a 2-1 victory courtesy of goals from Rodrigo Palacio and Juraj Kucka. Sebastian Giovinco scored a brace, including a winner in injury time, as Parma beat Chievo 2-1, while a Maxi Lopez penalty proved enough for Catania to beat Cesena in Sicily and Lecce ran out 2-0 winner at Bologna. In Sunday's early game, Palermo — conquerors of Inter last weekend — went down 1-0 at Atalanta in a match played in farcical conditions in Bergamo.
The match was delayed for 40 minutes in the second half to give the ground staff a chance to drain a pitch that had become waterlogged in torrential rain, but when the players returned, Palermo was unable to find a reply to German Denis' first-half opener for the host. The results: La Liga: Getafe 0 lost to Rayo Vallecano 1 (Michu 4); Zaragoza 2 (Luis Garcia 29, 90+1) bt Espanyol 1 (Javi Lopez 71); Atletico Madrid 4 (Falcao 23, 36-pen, 55, Adrian 78) bt Racing Santander 0; Levante 1 (Kone 68) bt Real Madrid 0; Athletic Bilbao 2 (De Marcos 37, David Lopez 86-pen) lost to Real Betis 3 (Etxebarria Urkiaga 7, Nacho 13, Sevilla 45+1-pen). Serie A: Atalanta 1 (Denis 34) bt Palermo 0; Bologna 0 lost to Lecce 2 (Giacomazzi 37, Grossmuller 60); Catania 1 (Maxi Lopez 45+2-pen) bt Cesena 0; Lazio 1 (Sculli 11) lost to Genoa 2 (Palacio 54, Kucka 72); Parma 2 (Giovinco 24, 90+2) bt Chievo 1 (Paloschi 80); Siena 0 lost to Juventus 1 (Matri 54); Udinese 2 (di Natale 8-pen, Isla 30) bt Fiorentina 0; Napoli 3 (Cavani 13, 36, 51) bt AC Milan 1 (Aquilani 11).