Zinedine Zidane’s honeymoon period did not last long in his return as Real Madrid coach.
In his third match back in charge, Real Madrid’s familiar struggles returned in a 2-1 loss at Valencia in La Liga on Wednesday.
Madrid had beaten RC Celta de Vigo and Real Sociedad Deportiva Huesca in their first two matches since rehiring Zidane, who quit nine months ago after leading the club to three straight UEFA Champions League titles.
“You have to get through the difficult moments,” Zidane said. “It’s a loss and we have to accept it. We will try to do better in the next match. Our goal is to finish well and prepare for next season.”
Goncalo Guedes and Ezequiel Garay scored in each half for Valencia at the Estadio de Mestalla, before Karim Benzema pulled one back for Madrid in second-half injury-time.
The result extended Valencia’s unbeaten streak to 12 league matches and moved them to fifth place in the standings, one point behind Getafe in the final Champions League spot.
Valencia had a dismal start to the season, but have not lost in 17 consecutive matches in all competitions.
Madrid are now five points behind second-placed Atletico Madrid, who on Tuesday defeated Girona 2-0 at home to move within eight points of leaders Barcelona, who scored a couple of late goals in a 4-4 draw at Villarreal.
Madrid controlled possession from the start, but it was Valencia who threatened the most on counterattacks.
Guedes opened the scoring with a shot from inside the area in the 35th minute and Garay sealed the victory with a header in the 83rd for his second goal of the season, with the other coming in the team’s 1-1 home draw against Barcelona.
“They kept the ball, but didn’t create many significant scoring opportunities,” Garay said. “To beat this team you need to play a complete match and we were able to do that.”
Athletic Bilbao relinquished a two-goal lead, but salvaged a 3-2 home victory over Levante UD with a controversial penalty-kick converted by Iker Muniain three minutes into injury-time.
Levante evened the match with two second-half goals, including one in the 89th minute, but the hosts recovered after Muniain was fouled inside the area and scored from the spot.
It was the third victory in a row for Athletic Bilbao, who are eighth in the standings.
Levante, winless in six matches, remained 15th.
Celta Vigo also relinquished a two-goal lead in their match at last-place Huesca, allowing the hosts to rally and take a 3-2 lead before netting an 81st-minute equalizer to salvage a point.
A victory would have been enough to move Celta out of the relegation zone, but they ended one point from safety.
Second-to-last Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, five points behind Celta and one point ahead of Huesca, lost 2-1 at mid-table Sociedad Deportiva Eibar.
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