LaLiga leaders Real Madrid suffered a shocking 1-0 defeat against relegation-threatened Espanyol on Saturday, as Carlos Romero’s late strike secured a crucial victory for the hosts.
With this result, Real Madrid remain at the top of the table with 49 points, just one point ahead of Atletico Madrid, who claimed a 2-0 win over Mallorca. Barcelona, currently in third place with 42 points, have a chance to close the gap when they face Alaves on Sunday.
Real Madrid appeared to have taken the lead in the 21st minute when Vinicius Jr finished off a pass from Kylian Mbappe. However, the goal was ruled out due to a foul committed by Mbappe on Pol Lozano in the buildup.
Espanyol defended resiliently in the second half, with goalkeeper Joan Garcia making outstanding saves to deny Lucas Vazquez, Rodrygo, and Jude Bellingham. The visitors were further frustrated when Carlos Romero fouled Mbappe from behind during a counterattack but was only shown a yellow card, despite Real Madrid’s strong appeals for a VAR intervention.
“This foul is beyond explanation, the decision made by the referee and VAR is hard to understand,” said Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti. “The most important thing is player safety, and that was a very dangerous challenge that could have led to an injury—but fortunately, it didn’t.”
Ancelotti introduced Luka Modric, Brahim Diaz, and Raul Asencio in search of an equalizer, but the substitutions failed to turn the game around. Instead, Espanyol found the breakthrough in the 85th minute, when Romero capitalized on a well-placed through ball from Omar El Hilali and fired past the goalkeeper to secure all three points.
The victory lifts Espanyol to 17th place in the table with 23 points, just above the relegation zone.
“This win gives us life,” said match-winner Romero in an interview with DAZN. “We’ve been competing well, and although we had to suffer, our home fans give us an advantage. Playing here will make it very difficult for opponents to take points from us.”
