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Real Madrid FC ended the weekend nine points behind league leaders Barcelona after a 0-0 La Liga draw against Real Betis.
Los Blancos lost ground in their championship defense with a draw in Andalucia, and they now face a massive struggle to reclaim their El Clasico opponents.
At the Estadio Benito Villamarin, the reigning champions set to keep up the pressure on FC Barcelona after captain Karim Benzema had an early goal disallowed by VAR.
After the restart, Benzema was denied again again by Thibaut Courtois, who made two key saves to keep the visitors in the game.
Despite late pressure from Carlo Ancelotti’s team, they were unable to score a key late goal, resulting in yet another league title shock.
With a solitary point in this game, Real Madrid CF will need to make a significant reversal in the championship race before meeting Barcelona at the Camp Nou on March 19.
Real Madrid FC vs Real Betis Balompié
Madrid’s painful 0-0 draw against Real Betis on Sunday marked the end of a challenging week and did little to improve their chances of catching Barcelona in the LaLiga title chase.
Real controlled against Betis but missed many opportunities after dropping the first leg of their Copa del Rey quarterfinal by a score of 1-0 at home to Barcelona on Thursday.
Barcelona leads with 62 points, nine more than Real, who is in second position but has already had two straight draws. Betis is currently in fifth place in Laliga table and three points off of the Champions League positions with having 41 points.
Real Madrid Laliga Race with Barcelona leading the table
“We’ll carry on battling. Real defender Lucas Vazquez told that there are still a lot of games left in March. “We earned enough to be deserving of more. On the last stretch, we fell off course, and the outcome dissatisfies us.
I beg the supporters to continue believing in us. For the three titles we are vying for, we shall battle until the bitter end.
Real Madrid dominated the action in Seville, but an often dangerous Betis was continually posing a threat to Thibaut Courtois’ goal in a game that required a goal.
Real Madrid has been having trouble up front after a 5-2 victory against Liverpool in their round-of-16 Champions League first-leg matchup.
In their previous three games in all competitions, they have only managed one goal, coming from a set piece in the 1-1 tie with Atletico Madrid.
Against Betis, they had a strong start, but in the 12th minute, Karim Benzema’s free kick was disallowed because the ball struck Real defender Antonio Ruediger’s hand before going in.
The visitors persisted in pressing, and Federico Valverde almost scored, but his powerful shot barely cleared the crossbar.
The second half saw an increase in tension and intensity as Real made every effort to win while Betis had opportunities of their own to surprise the LaLiga and Champions League champions.
After interval, Claudio Bravo of Betis produced an outstanding save from a Benzema shot to prevent Real from scoring, then Courtois pulled off his own miracle by making a one-handed save to stop Borja Iglesias from close range.
Rodrygo blew two excellent chances by passing to Benzema rather than scoring, and he then missed a clear-cut chance from close range following a Valverde cross.
