Zinedine Zidane dropped Gareth Bale and endured his first defeat since returning to Real Madrid as his side were deservedly beaten 2-1 by a resurgent Valencia on Wednesday.
The last time Zidane left Bale on the bench, the Welshman proved a spectacular substitute against Liverpool in the Champions League final 10 months ago but there was to be no rescue act at Mestalla.
Instead, Valencia surged to a convincing victory, Goncalo Guedes and Ezequiel Garay scoring in each half to leave Marcelino's team within a point of La Liga's top four. Karim Benzema headed in a late consolation in injury-time.
"We lacked a bit of spark up front," Zidane said. "I am not going to criticise my players. They have tried and we played a good team. But losing always hurts."
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