More misery for Mourinho

“It was a deserved win for Sevilla, and a defeat we deserved even more,” is how coach José Mourinho described Real Madrid’s 0-1 loss to Sevilla on Saturday night. The reigning league champion left itself a mountain to climb after conceding a goal in the second minute when German international Piotr Trochowski was allowed far too much space from a corner to show excellent technique with a half-volley.

This second defeat of the season, having previously fallen at Getafe, sees Madrid drop further behind eternal rival Barcelona, which now has an eight-point advantage after a 1-4 victory away -- at Getafe.

Mourinho insisted uncertainty surrounding star man Cristiano Ronaldo, who recently announced that he was “sad” at the Bernabéu, played no part in the result that many say — even at this early stage of the season — could have killed off any hopes it has of retaining its crown. “It’s got nothing to do with the rumors over the last two weeks,” the coach said at the post-match press conference, adding: “There are only a few [of my players] that are engaged and concentrated, and see soccer as a priority.”

They have little time to regroup ahead of Tuesday night’s visit of English champions Manchester City in the Champions League..

Lionel Messi came off the bench to score twice for Barcelona away at Getafe. With Wednesday’s visit of CSKA Moscow in mind, Tito Vilanova also rested Brazilian right back Dani Alves at the Alfonso Pérez Coliseum, a ground at which the Catalan team had lost last season. Adriano opened the scoring for Barça just after the half-hour mark, before Messi — who entered in the sixtieth minute — scored twice in four minutes, including a penalty, ensuring there was going to be no repeat upset. David Villa continued to step up his recovery from a broken leg by rounding the victory off in injury time after the home side had grabbed a consolation goal 10 minutes from time.

Barcelona is top with a maximum 12 points from four games, two ahead of Málaga, which prepared for its first-ever Champions League game on Tuesday by defeating Levante 3-1 at home with former Barcelona and Real man Javier Saviola scoring and providing an assist. Just behind is Sevilla, also unbeaten on eight points.