Valladolid catch Villarreal cold

Villarreal CF lost their unbeaten record in emphatic fashion as they lost 3-0 at home to Real Valladolid CF to cede second place in the Liga to Real Madrid CF as Wesley Sneijder scored the only goal for the champions against RC Recreativo de Huelva in the capital.

First-half goals
Villarreal had won seven and drawn four of their Liga outings this term, extending their sequence without a loss in the top flight to 17 games after ending the 2007/08 campaign with six straight wins. Manuel Pellegrini's side had no answer to their visitors at El Madrigal, though, as Valladolid struck three times without reply in the first half – Jonathan Sesma finding the net on 22 and 42 minutes before Luis Prieto completed the scoring in the last minute of the half.

Improvement needed
The Yellow Submarine will need a much-improved performance when they host Manchester United FC in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday, as might Madrid when they travel to Belarus to take on FC BATE Borisov. Recreativo fashioned three decent openings in the opening ten minutes at the Santiago Bernabéu, and were punished for not taking any of them in the 39th minute as Sneijder collected a pass from Guti and fizzed in a shot which deflected over visiting goalkeeper Asier Riesgo.

Higuaín injured
Gonzalo Higuaín flicked a presentable chance wide in the 53rd minute, 25 minutes before leaving the field on a stretcher after appearing to turn an ankle. Guti then drew a fine save from Riesgo but the points were safe. Sevilla FC midfielder Enzo Maresca missed a decent chance in added time as his side played out a goalless draw with Valencia CF in Andalucia with both clubs failing to take the opportunity to force their way into the top three.