MADRID: Real Madrid fell to a damaging 1-0 defeat by Getafe at home in La Liga on Monday, leaving them four points behind leaders Barcelona.

Alvaro Arbeloa’s side, beaten by a superb volley from Martin Satriano, suffered a second consecutive loss in the Spanish top flight for the first time since 2020.

Real forward Franco Mastantuono was sent off in stoppage time for apparent dissent to make a bad night worse for Los Blancos.

“Obviously it’s a match where we could have done things better, but I think my players tried and we had more clear chances than them,” Arbeloa told reporters. “However in football deserving isn’t enough, and Getafe played a great game.”

With French superstar Kylian Mbappe in France to treat a knee sprain, Real lined up with Gonzalo Garcia in attack alongside Vinicius Jr at Santiago Bernabeu.

Real were beaten at Osasuna last weekend, allowing rivals Barca to overtake them in the title race, and Hansi Flick’s side stretched their lead by thrashing Villarreal on Saturday.

Vinicius, in excellent form in 2026 after an inconsistent start to the season, spurned a fine early chance.

The winger burst through on goal but David Soria saved well with his leg.

A brilliant roulette from Arda Guler nearly earned Real the breakthrough but Soria tipped over the Turkish forward’s strike.

Getafe were upset by a painful collision between Real’s defender Antonio Rudiger and Diego Rico, in which the German’s knee knocked the Spaniard’s head.

Uruguayan forward Satriano broke the deadlock with a delicious strike from the edge of the box after compatriot Mauro Arambarri nodded the ball into his path.

Soria, who had a fine game, saved from Vinicius in the second half and the Brazilian called for more support from Real’s fans.

However the team were not giving them much to get excited about, although Rudiger came close to levelling with a header.

It was a disjointed display from a Real side who visit Celta Vigo on Friday in La Liga, before hosting Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in the Champions League last 16, unsure if top scorer Mbappe will be fit to play.

In stoppage time Mastantuono was dismissed, seemingly for something he said to the referee, before Getafe were also reduced to 10 men when Adrian Liso kicked the ball away and was shown a second yellow card.

“Nobody here is throwing in the towel, this is Real Madrid, you don’t give up until the last game,” added Arbeloa.

“Four points is a distance that we can cut back and we will fight for that.”

Jose Bordalas’s Getafe rose to 11th and were able to celebrate their first win at the Bernabeu since 2008.

“It’s very hard to get points when you come here, I have to congratulate the team for the work in defence, then we got our goal and we could even have scored another in the end,” said Getafe defender Kiko Femenia.

Published in Dawn, March 4th, 2026