Jose Mourinho’s side had midfielder Sami Khedira sent off five minutes before halftime, and fell behind when Levante forward Arouna Kone smashed the ball into the net with just over 20 minutes left.

After the match, Mourinho blasted the referee, his own players and, most of all, Levante’s style of play. “As always, here at their home they let them do as they want and they do it very well,” he told reporters after the defeat, which left Madrid in fourth place, three points behind leaders Valencia and Athletic Bilbao and one back from Barcelona.

“I only have to congratulate them for being clever because they know how to provoke, they know how to fake it, they know how to gain time, they know how not to give the ball, they know all this which is also football,” he said. “And here I can agree that our players are not at ease in this environment.”