Real held as Marcelo sees red

Atletico draw blank at Valencia

MADRID, Sept 9, (AFP): Real Madrid paid for the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo and a series of missed chances by Gareth Bale as they were held 1-1 at home by Levante on Saturday.

A slow start by a much-changed Real team was punished when Ivi Lopez fired newly-promoted Levante into a shock lead after just 12 minutes.

Real responded thanks to Lucas Vazquez’s equaliser before half-time, but failed to break Levante’s resistence despite incessant pressure as Bale, Marcelo and Toni Kroos came close in the second half.

And their frustration boiled over when Marcelo was shown a straight red card for front thanks to some awful Real defending.

A Levante long-throw from the right was allowed to bounce inside Madrid’s six-yard box before Ivi spun and fired across Kiko Casilla into the far corner.

The hosts were dealt another blow midway through the first half as Karim Benzema limped off and with no other natural striker on the bench, Bale was forced to play as an auxiliary centre-forward.

Madrid ramped up the tempo as the half wore on, but had to rely on a set-piece to level nine minutes before half-time. Sergio Ramos’s towering header was parried by Raul Fernandez, but Vazquez bundled home the rebound into an empty net.

Bale then had a huge chance to turn the game around, but was denied by a smart stop from the Levante keeper as he tried to curl the ball home with the outside of his left foot.

The Welshman continued to be the focal point of the Madrid attack after the break, but, even after the introduction of Isco, Madrid missed Ronaldo’s cutting edge in the final third.

Atletico Madrid failed to take advantage of Real’s slip-up as without the suspended Antoine Griezmann they drew a blank in an intense 0-0 draw at Valencia.

Diego Simeone’s men were denied by fine saves from Valencia keeper Neto to turn behind deflected efforts from Angel Correa and Nico Gaitan either side of half-time.

Lopez