Madrid loses at Alaves on last-gasp goal, winless in 4 games

A last-gasp goal by Alaves dealt Real Madrid a 1-0 defeat in the Spanish league on Saturday, extending the scoring drought afflicting the European champion to four straight matches.

Manu Garcia headed in a pass by fellow substitute Ruben Sobrino from a corner kick on the last touch of the match to claim Alaves its first Liga victory over Madrid in 18 years.

Madrid coach Julen Lopetegui will come under even more pressure to make his attack click. After a decent start to Lopetegui's first season in charge, Madrid is struggling mightily to replace the goals once produced by Cristiano Ronaldo.

Madrid has only one win in its last five Liga matches, and has gone four matches in all competitions without a victory.

"We coaches are exposed to these situations, but we just think about how we can keep working," Lopetegui said. "We are in October. It is not a good situation, but 10 days ago it was."

The team's fortunes, however, have taken a drastic turn since it beat Roma 3-0 in the Champions League less than two weeks ago.

Before Saturday, Madrid lost at Sevilla 3-0, drew with Atletico Madrid 0-0, and fell at CSKA Moscow 1-0.

Alaves rose to level on points with Madrid and Barcelona atop the league standings after its impressive defensive performance capped by Garcia's dramatic winner.

Madrid was stifled by Alaves' intense pressure and was mostly limited to incursions by right back Alvaro Odriozola.

Lopetegui sent on Mariano Diaz at halftime to replace Karim Benzema, after six and a half matches without a goal from the French striker.

Seeing no improvement from his side, Lopetegui also sent on playmaker Marco Asensio for holding midfielder Casemiro, with Gareth Bale needing to be replaced late by Brazilian teenager Vinicius Junior.

But instead of Madrid bombarding the hosts, it was Alaves that earned a corner kick five minutes into stoppage time.