Eibar 3-0 Real Madrid: Santiago Solari's men slump to embarrassing defeat in defensive horror show as Barcelona loanee Marc Cucurella shines for hosts
Real Madrid played their first game since Santiago Solari was made the club's permanent manager and slumped back into their shocking early season form to lose 3-0 away at tiny Eibar, Dailymail Sport reports.
The Basque minnows had never beaten Real Madrid in their history but they carved the European Champions open time and again leaving Thibaut Courtois helplessly cursing his porous defence – this was another nightmare for the former Chelsea keeper after he shipped five in midweek for Belgium.
Kike Garcia gave Real Madrid a 'welcome to Ipurua' present on three minutes with a shot that crashed off the post with Courtois floundering.
Gareth Bale then thundered a long shot past Asier Riesgo and into the back of the net but the offside flag had been raised. Bale then flashed a cross just beyond Karim Benzema with Real Madrid's next attack.
Benzema could then have converted Marco Asensio's cross but Eibar scrambled it off the line and with their next attack on 16 minutes they had the lead.
Gonzalo Escalante turned the ball in after Dani Ceballos' clearance hit him. Eibar had to wait for VAR to confirm the goal but their tiny stadium erupted as soon as referee Juan Martinez drew the imaginary screen in the sky.
The flag had been raised after Barcelona loanee Marc Cucurella surged down the left to cross for Sergi Enrich. But he was onside and when Courtois saved the forward's cross Escalante bundled home.
Escalante, the former Boca Juniors youth teamer, was running midfield and he had Eibar's next chance as the home side continued to thrive.
The town's entire population only totals 27,000 and the club has one of the lowest budgets in the league but they were on top and even veteran keeper Riesgo was on form pushing Bale's free-kick away.
Bale was further frustrated when he clashed with Cote and appealed for the foul. The referee waved away his appeals and then booked him for complaining.
A very different Madrid needed to emerge in the second half but they were just as sluggish at the restart and when Cucurella picked the pocket of Alvaro Odriozola he crossed for Sergi Enrich to score the second.
Goal number three was not far behind. Kike Garcia got it just five minutes later and it was another Cucurella cross not dealt with.
Raphael Varane was slow to get in front of Garcia and he left Courtois with no chance. Courtois then made a fine one-handed save to stop Garcia making it 4-0.
There were only 6,435 inside Ipurua but they were witnessing the greatest day in the club's history.
Madrid have no answers, Isco came off the bench for Madrid but Eibar remained dominant.
This was their big chance to close the gap on Barcelona and Atletico Madrid who play each other later Saturday. Instead they are just two points clear of Eibar in mid-table and with their stuttering campaign back in the doldrums.
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