5 ways Real Madrid can shake off their Bernabeu shackles

#4 A little bit of luck

Gareth Bale came close to scoring one of the goals of the season against Real Betis

Popular football cliché dictates that you make your own luck in this game, and there is an element of truth to this well-worn statement.

If the match against Real Betis on Wednesday had been a boxing match, referee Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz would have stopped it in favour of the home side long before the visitors scored their injury time sucker-punch winner.

And the reason for that, is through the number of chances that Real Madrid created before Antonio Sanabria decided matters deep into stoppage time.

Forcing 27 shots on goal in comparison to the 12 created by Betis, Madrid were dominant for long periods, and a little bit more luck in front of goal would have resulted in a comfortable victory.

Gareth Bale's ridiculous flying back-heeled effort was a prime example of a chance that would have flown into the top corner if the side had not been out of form.

Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo was a man desperate to impress on his return from a five-match suspension, and there would have been no better time to show the true value of the CR7 brand than if he could have salvaged a victory for his side, in front of the Madridistas.

He tried, but failed, and the defeat hurt.