Gerard Moreno’s penalty condemned Real Madrid to their second LaLiga defeat of the season as Villarreal beat the champions 2-1 on Saturday to do coach Quique Setien’s former employers Barcelona a favour.
Madrid had hoped to return to the summit ahead of Barca’s tough trip to Atletico Madrid on Sunday, but Villarreal were good value for victory during a thriller at Estadio de la Ceramica.
Villarreal created a host of promising openings during an entertaining first half but had to wait until just after the break to make the breakthrough thanks to Yeremy Pino.