Real Betis 2-1 Real Madrid: 5 Hits and Flops as Los Blancos lose again | La Liga 2019-20

#3 Flop: Sergio Ramos

Ramos was sluggish, at fault for one of Betis' goals and needs to be sharper when leading by example

Immediately post-match, Sergio Ramos was in the mixed zone and frankly told the interviewer that Real cannot afford to lose games like this if they harbour serious title aspirations - regardless of Barca's shaky form. Having won last weekend's El Clasico, Los Blancos have shot themselves in the foot and crucially lost ground on the defending champions, who were slender 1-0 winners against Real Sociedad on Saturday.

Ramos' comments were honest but to be expected given their frustrating all-round display, though he won't enjoy watching the game film from this one considering the way in which they conceded both goals.

The first one is a beautiful strike from an unlikely source, but Ramos makes a mess of things inside the area immediately before Sidnei lets fly. Had play not continued in Betis' favour, he probably would have given away a spot-kick after crashing into Fekir. Betis' second is equally grim from Real's perspective: Benzema's loose pass throws Ramos under the bus, he is dispossessed and Barca academy graduate Tello (who else?) speeds away to finish.

Ramos may have completed two clearances and blocks, alongside a tackle over the 90 minutes, but he was far from his influential best: being dribbled past on for occasions while being at fault for Sidnei's opener. He won 5 of 10 duels, remained adventurous and you could see him regularly featuring in midfield positions to try and quicken the pace - either that or upfront in the final few minutes. It proved merely a futile attempt to save a result.