Betis 3 - Real Madrid 1

Betis: Prats; Varela, Belenguer, Filipescu, Luis Fernández; Ito, Calado (Cañas 32'); Joaquín (Merino 63'), Capi, Denilson (Mingo 81'); Casas. 4-2-3-1.
Real Madrid: César; Geremi, Hierro, Iván Campo, Roberto Carlos (Savio 64'); Figo, Celades, Zidane, McManaman; Guti (Munitis 79'), Raúl. 4-4-2.

Team changes: Betis: Capi for Joao Tomas / Madrid: César, Geremi, Iván Campo, Celades, Figo for Casillas, Michel Salgado, Karanka, Makelele, Flavio Conceiçao.

Goals:
1-0. 13. Casas. Intercepted a bad pass from Iván Campo and beat César.
1-1. 14. Zidane. Strong volley into back of net after Raúl touched on Guti cross.
2-1. 50. Capi. Picked up ball deep in half and ran on to score with low shot.
3-1. 58. Joaquín. Took Casas pass on right of area and fired shot past César.

A Real Madrid side showing five changes from their previous line up crashed to their second defeat of the season, and have only picked up one point of a possible nine. They were up against a Betis team who were highly motivated after Madrid condemned them to relegation two seasons ago, and manager Juande Ramos left most of his new signings on the bench, with Calado being replaced after a half hour after a disappointing start. A mix up between Iván Campo and Hierro let in the league's top scorer Gastón Casas for the first goal early on, although Zidane restored the equilibrium only a minute later with his first league goal for his new club.

The rotational changes to the Madrid defence were not working though, and Capi took advantage of their hesitation to restore the home side's lead just after the interval. Joaquín added a third a few minutes later and Del Bosque threw on Savio for a limping Roberto Carlos. But even when Belenguer got himself sent off for a second bookable offence eight minutes from the end Madrid could still not break through, with Prats saving from Savio near the end. Del Bosque has some thinking to do, not least of which is how to fit Zidane into his plans, and he must be hoping that Helguera and Morientes recover from their injuries soon. Betis are riding high, and move up to the higher places with two victories in a row.