Real Madrid, Atletico suffer shock Champions League defeats

Real Madrid fell to a surprise 1-0 defeat away to Ligue 1 side Lille on Wednesday night in the Champions League.

The only goal of the encounter came at the stroke of halftime when Canadian forward Jonathan David converted from the penalty spot after French international Eduardo Camavinga handled the ball inside the box.

Despite a barrage of attacks by the visitors late in the second half, Lille held on to secure three crucial points at the Pierre Mauroy Stadium.

This was Real Madrid’s first defeat in 15 Champions League outings, and their first loss in 37 games across all competitions.

The shock defeat leaves the Champions League holders 17th on the table with three points, a position above Lille.

After the game, Carlo Ancelotti expressed his frustration to the media.

“It’s difficult to analyse this game,” said the veteran coach. “We were bad in every aspect.”

“We didn’t create, the possession was slow, no ideas. Our forwards need a more vertical game. This could be a problem when you’re slow.”

“This was a bad game. We showed a bad image, and we have bad feelings.”

Real Madrid will be eager to return to winning ways against visiting Villareal this Saturday, with leading online bookmakers backing the Spanish champions as -384.62 favourites to defeat the Yellow Submarine (+900).

Atletico suffer humiliating defeat against Benfica

Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid were hammered 4-0 in the Champions League by Primeira Liga side Benfica on Wednesday in Lisbon.

The hosts were up within the opening 13 minutes thanks to a clinical strike by Turkish forward Muhammed Kerem Akturkoglu, before doubling their lead soon after the restart through an Angel Di Maria penalty.

Danish defender Alexander Bah scored a simple header to make it 3-0 with 15 minutes left, before Turkish international Orkun Kokcu converted from 12 yards late in the second half, handing Benfica a historic win.

Although Atletico committed a litany of errors, manager Diego Simeone took the blame for the humiliating defeat.

“The responsibility is mine for trying to create what I wanted to, but it didn’t show,” said Simeone.

“The penalty came very quickly, we went 2-0 down, and we couldn’t generate what we would have liked.”

Nevertheless, Simeone also tried drawing positives from the defeat.

“I always think positively, always see this as a good opportunity to keep improving.”

“We had been doing very good work. We had a game that wasn’t what we expected, but it’s part of the game. Congrats to the opponent; a very good match.”

Defeat leaves the Spanish side 23rd on the table, while Benfica climbed to third following a second consecutive Champions League win.

Atleti will be hoping to bounce back on Sunday against Real Sociedad, with Bovada offering +131 for Simeone’s men to beat their hosts (+240).

Sports news