Real Madrid had a flying starting to their league campaign after they won five matches and drew one in the opening six games. However, Los Blancos managed to only salvage a point in an evenly contested 0-0 tie with Villarreal on Saturday, at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Both sides exchanged punches but none were clinical enough to land the knockout blow. While the possession share was almost equal, Madrid managed to pepper keeper Geronimo Rulli with shots at regular intervals. However, most of them were either too frail or misdirected.

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Ahead of the game, Real Madrid had an opportunity to go five points clear of their noisy neighbours Atletico Madrid, who lost Deportivo Alaves on the day, at the top, if they managed to grab the full three points against the Yellow Submarines.

But now, after the draw, Carlo Ancelotti’s side are still on top, however, sitting at second, Sevilla have a game in hand and could join them at the top soon.

Ancelotti opted for a few changes in their lineup from the Mallorca game, where they cruised to a 6-1 victory. Midfielder Federico Valverde was filling in as a makeshift right-back for injured Daniel Carvajal. Meanwhile, Nacho Fernandez was deployed as a left-back and Luka Modric joined the central midfield.

Ahead of the game, Benzema had eight goals and seven assists in the league, however, tonight, he failed to extend his lead in the race for the Golden Boot.

Unai Emery’s side managed to control the tempo of the game and stopped Real Madrid from creating substantial breakaways and utilising the pace advantage on the wings through Vinicius Jr. and Rodrygo. The two Brazilian starlets failed to make their mark, as they were continuous stopped in their tracks or pushed wide.

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On loan fullback Juan Foyth managed to keep Vinicius at bay although Benzema tried on multiple occasions to set him free. The midfield troika of Dani Parejo, Etienne Capoue and Francis Coquelin managed to neutralise all threats from the Madrid midfield on most occasions.

Centre-back Eder Militao had the pick of the chances when his gliding header went just above the goal post.