Real slip to first defeat against Villarreal

MADRID, Jan 28 (Reuters) Real Madrid slumped to their third defeat in five games when they went down 1-0 at Villarreal in the Primera Liga.

Villarreal, who had won once in their previous six outings, notched up their first ever victory against Real when 19-year-old midfielder Marcos clipped the ball home after a slick passing move midway through the second half.

Real, missing AC Milan-bound Ronaldo, David Beckham, the injured Raul and the out-of-favour Antonio Cassano, barely managed to threaten the Villarreal goal in a toothless performance at the Madrigal.

''We didn't take one shot in the second half and had almost no presence on the pitch. It was a very poor half ,'' Real's sporting director Predrag Mijatovic told television station La Sexta.

The result meant Fabio Capello's side remain in third place in the table, a point behind leaders Barcelona who host Celta Vigo today.

Atletico Madrid's hopes of keeping the pressure on the leading pack were frustrated when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Racing Santander at the Calderon earlier yesterday.

Atletico fell behind when Racing's little-and-large partnership of Pedro Munitis and Nikola Zigic manufactured a classy goal 17 minutes from time.

CLEVER PASS The diminutive Munitis hooked a clever pass over his shoulder on the edge of the area and the towering Serb striker burst between two defenders before firing home from 10 metres.

Atletico hit back almost immediately, centre-back Pablo Ibanez marking his 100th appearance for the club with his first goal of the season when he skimmed a header into the net after a midfielder Jurado had whipped a free kick into the area.

The draw left Atletico in fifth spot in the table, level on 36 points with Valencia who play Real Betis today and three adrift of Barca. Racing move up to 11th.

Despite the absence of out-of-favour playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme, who was looking on from the stands, Villarreal dominated against Real as they clipped the ball around the midfield and hit the visitors on the break.

They would have taken the lead on the half hour had it not been for some superb goalkeeping from Iker Casillas, who got a hand to a Diego Forlan shot, blocked a follow-up effort and closed down Matias Fernandez as he tried to blast the ball into the net.

But they finally broke the deadlock midway through the second half, when Marcos fired home with a first-time shot after Fernandez had slipped the ball past the Real back four.

REUTERS DH RN0649