Real Madrid vs. Levante Takeaways: That was not the club we know

Real Madrid scored first despite being down to 10 men within the first 10 minutes, but the bottom fell out from underneath them. Los Blancos finished Matchday 21 with their third defeat in four matches, dropping all three points to Levante, by a score of 2-1, at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano.

Here are three takeaways from yet another infuriating defeat.

Real Madrid have fallen hard

Maybe the 4-1 Deportivo Alaves win last weekend was the fluke. Perhaps the winning streak in December was the aberration. At this point, I’m not sure what is true or where Real Madrid’s actual talent level lies. But I am sure that this is not a team I am having fun watching each and every week – many times twice per week – and I am even more sure that this club is falling well below the standard set over the past decade.

This loss to Levante was unacceptable. Yes, they were playing with 10 men, but what’s funny is that the defending wasn’t even the biggest issue. Aside from one brilliant pass from Toni Kroos to Marco Asensio that was finished off from one half of the pitch to the other by those two players, Real Madrid accomplished nothing of note in the attack. Against Levante. A team that isn’t known for being highly defensive or playing a strict low block.

Madridistas must let the club suffer without repercussions to the legend himself, Zinedine Zidane. Look at what he has to deal with. How was he supposed to get anything more out of this team when Raphael Varane, Thibaut Courtois, Luka Modric, and Toni Kroos were the only ones who showed up to play?