Alberto Saiz/Associated Press
Giampaolo Pazzini scored a late equaliser for Levante, who held La Liga giants Real Madrid to a 2-2 draw on Saturday.
Sergio Ramos gave the visitors an early lead with his 50th La Liga goal for Los Blancos, but Levante struck back just before half-time through Emmanuel Boateng. Substitute Isco reclaimed the lead late, only to watch as Pazzini scored his first La Liga goal to earn his side a point.
Here's a look at the teams:
Real had a fast start and could have taken the lead after just six minutes, as Dani Carvajal picked out Marcelo with a fine cross, but the Brazilian couldn't keep his effort on target.
It was a bad miss but signaled Los Blancos' early attacking intentions. Karim Benzema's strike was diverted out for a corner kick, and Ramos found the net with a textbook header on the resulting set piece. Marca in English celebrated the accomplishment:
Cristiano Ronaldo went close to doubling the lead after beautiful play between Marcelo and Gareth Bale, but his chip just cleared the crossbar.
Ramos ran into a booking for a perceived elbow and protestations, but the resulting free-kick came to nothing. Oier made a mess of a shot from distance but just kept out Ronaldo on the rebound, and Casemiro also tried his luck, to no avail.
As noted byAS English's Robbie Dunne, Levante's defensive efforts were quite impressive but easily undone by the rest they offered:
When they did finally break through the defence, Keylor Navas couldn't deal with a stinging drive, and none of the team tracked Boateng's run, leading to an easy equaliser.
Football writer Karl Matchett was impressed with his composure:
Levante finished the first half on top, although they didn't muster any more chances. After a bright start to the second half, they were soon chasing the ball once again, even though Los Blancos barely threatened.
Ronaldo powered a free-kick into the wall, and Cheick Doukoure made two sublime blocks to prevent goals. On the other side of the pitch, Navas reacted well to a drive from Jefferson Lerma.
Oier dealt with a hard shot from Ronaldo well, and with 24 minutes still to play, Blancos manager Zinedine Zidane had seen enough and took off Bale for Isco. With the change came a tactical shift as well as even more pressure.
Oier made a monstrous save to deny Ramos his 51st goal, per football writer Dermot Corrigan:
But just a few minutes later, there was nothing he could do to deny Isco, who took full advantage of some great work by Benzema to reclaim the lead.
Levante pushed for another equaliser and came agonisingly close in the final minutes, as Roger was left wide open inside the box. Somehow, he aimed his free header off target.
Minutes later, Pazzini punished a poor defensive effort, taking a pass from Jason and placing the ball beyond the reach of Navas.
Levante had the better chances for a winner in injury time, although they got lucky when Luka Modric's header just missed the mark.
Real's next outing will be against Real Sociedad, while Levante face Valencia.