Real Madrid suffered their second La Liga loss of the week and lost ground in the title race with a 2-1 defeat at fifth-placed Sevilla. Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring with a deflected free kick for Real, who were beaten by Barcelona on Sunday.

Madrid missed a host of chances, which included Ronaldo hitting the post before the break.  Carlos Bacca equalised and superb play from Ivan Rakitic created Bacca's second.

The visitors still had their chances to take at least a point, with Ronaldo and Gareth Bale spurning chances. The defeat, coupled with wins for Atletico Madrid and Barcelona, means Carlo Ancelotti's side have dropped to third in La Liga.

They are three points behind leaders Atletico, who defeated Granada 1-0, and two below Barcelona, who beat Celta Vigo 3-0, with eight games to play.

It is the first time Real have lost two successive league matches since May 2009.

"In one sense the defeat could be deserved because we didn't prepare well for the counter-attack which Sevilla had and they scored two goals.

"We conceded two goals in the same way on the counter-attack when we needed more balance.

"We need to concentrate on our own games, it is true we have lost two games in a row and that is not good at this point in the season.

"We need to believe that we can win it still. We are three points behind Atletico and two behind Barcelona, everything is still possible."