EUROPEAN ROUND-UP: SPANISH LA LIGA:Real Madrid suffered a shock 2-1 defeat by Sevilla in La Liga last night as winger Jesus Navas and midfielder Renato stuck with headers in each half.
Missing several of their star names, Real were comprehensively outplayed in the first half and went behind when Navas leaped superbly to nod the home side in front in the 33rd minute and Real goalkeeper Iker Casillas produced two stunning saves to deny Renato and Diego Perotti before Pepe equalised just after half-time.
Renato made amends when he rose unmarked to glance in Adriano’s cross in the 66th minute and inflict a first defeat of the season on Manuel Pellegrini’s expensively assembled side.
The result meant Real, missing the injured Cristiano Ronaldo, trailed Barcelona by three points after six matches.
Pedro’s stunning strike gave the champions a 1-0 home victory over Almeria on Saturday as Barca equalled their best league start with six wins in six to reach 18 points. Real and Sevilla both have 15 with Real ahead on goal difference.
Villarreal continued their miserable start to the La Liga season when they were held to a 0-0 draw at home by 10-man Espanyol yesterday.
Espanyol defender Juan Forlin was shown a straight red card when he hauled Giuseppe Rossi down in the 14th minute with the Italian striker clean through on goal.
The home side had a slew of chances but Espanyols Cameroon goalkeeper Carlos Kameni was inspired and Villarreal remain mired in 19th place with three points from six matches.
ITALIAN SERIE A:Juventus lost their first league game of the season when Palermo sealed a 2-0 home win last night.
Palermo coach Walter Zenga was under pressure before kick-off but the Sicilians were rewarded for a good start when a mistake by Felipe Melo led to Uruguayan striker Edinson Cavani scoring at the near post with a fierce effort.
Third-placed Juve’s hopes of going top were effectively ended when Brazilian Fabio Simplicio slipped through the offside trap and turned in a free kick three minutes before half-time.
Giampaolo Pazzini’s excellent header had earlier helped Sampdoria draw 1-1 at home with Parma to move joint-top with champions Inter Milan, who beat Udinese 2-1 on Saturday.
Inter’s city rivals AC Milan continued to struggle after seven games with half-time substitute Ronaldinho striking six minutes from time to snatch a 1-1 draw at 10-man Atalanta.
The Brazilian chested down defender Alessandro Nesta’s ball and poked in to score Milan’s first goal in four games.
Joint-bottom Atalanta took the lead when Simone Tiribocchi swept the ball home and they were then unfortunate to have Ivan Radovanovic harshly sent off on 39 minutes for two bookings.
Napoli boss Roberto Donadoni is also clinging to his job after a 2-1 defeat at injury-hit AS Roma, where Francesco Totti netted twice to go joint-eighth with Gabriel Batistuta on the Serie A all-time goalscorers list with 184.
Fiorentina, third with Juve, drew 0-0 with Lazio despite Alberto Gilardino’s effort looking over the line on replays.
Genoa are fifth after beating ruining Bologna’s 3-1 away.
