Zinedine Zidane suffered his first setback as Real Madrid boss as Los

Blancos were held 1-1 at Real Betis on Sunday to slip four points

behind La Liga leaders Barcelona.

Atletico Madrid also spurned the chance to move back on top as they

failed to break down 10-man Sevilla in a 0-0 draw at the Vicente

Calderon. 

A point means Atletico and Barcelona are now level on points at the

top of the table ahead of their meeting at the Camp Nou next weekend,

although Barca also have a game in hand on both sides from the capital.

“All we missed was starting the game well. We knew it was going to be

difficult from the first minute and it was hard at the start, but then

with the game we played we deserved a lot more,” said Zidane.

“That is football. When you have chances you have to take them and we lacked a bit of luck too.”

Betis hadn’t scored in their previous seven games as part of a

10-game winless streak, but needed just seven minutes to make the

breakthrough in spectacular fashion.

Keylor Navas made a fine save to block Ruben Castro’s first effort,

but the ball eventually fell to Cejudo on the edge of the area, who

unleashed a volley into the top corner Zidane himself would have been

proud of in his playing days.

Betis’ intense start unsettled a Madrid side that had struck 10 goals

in Zidane’s first two games in charge, but the visitors slowly began to

take control and Cristiano Ronaldo missed a huge chance to level when

he scuffed his shot wide with just Antonio Adan to beat.

Pepe also sent a header wide when unmarked from point blank range and

Benzema wrongly had a penalty appeal waived away when he was stood on

by Petros.

However, Zidane’s men did get a break for the equaliser 19 minutes

from time when James Rodriguez appeared to be offside as he latched onto

Toni Kroos’s through ball and squared for Benzema to tap home his 21st

goal in 20 games this season.

Antonio Adan then produced two stunning saves to prevent Rodriguez

and Benzema in as many minutes as Madrid piled on the pressure in search

of a winner.

Yet, it was Betis who had a huge chance to win the game in stoppage time when Ruben Castro fired inches wide.

At the Calderon, it was also a tale of missed chance for Atletico who

failed to take advantage after Sevilla’s Vitolo was shown a second

yellow card just after the hour mark.

Antoine Griezmann had Atletico’s best effort when he headed against the post early in the second-half.

Even after the red card the hosts struggled to open up the Sevilla

defence, but a well-worked free-kick freed Yannick Ferreira Carrasco

inside the area and his fierce shot was brilliantly saved by Sergio

Rico.

“When you don’t score it is normal that is what people talk about,

but we had plenty of chances today,” said Atletico boss Diego Simeone.

“We hit the post, their keeper made a great save and the only way to score in football is by creating chances.”

Elsewhere, Gary Neville’s winless streak in La Liga as Valencia boss

stretched to seven games despite Alvaro Negredo’s 93rd minute equaliser

in a 1-1 draw at Deportivo la Coruna.

Valencia remain a mammoth 16 points off fourth place in 11th as their

run without a league win since November 7 continued at Deportivo.

Lucas Perez coolly slotted home his 13th goal of the season to give the home side a deserved half-time lead.

However, Neville’s men again came from behind to salvage a point for

the fifth time in his seven league games in charge when Negredo powered

home Dani Parejo’s cross with virtually the last action of the game.

Athletic Bilbao gunned down high-flying Eibar 5-2 in a Basque derby at San Mames.