Cristiano Ronaldo own-goal condemns Madrid to Granada defeat

Real Madrid's dismal season went from bad to worse when Cristiano Ronaldo scored an own-goal to hand relegation-threatened Granada a shock 1-0 win.

Real coach Jose Mourinho had already given up winning the league before Christmas and this latest blow means that Barcelona can increase their lead over them to 18 points if they win at Valencia today.

There were doubts over whether or not Ronaldo would play as he is struggling with an ankle injury and his mood didn't improve when he headed a Granada corner into his own goal after 22 minutes yesterday.

Real had scored nine goals in their last two league games but they lacked the necessary drive perhaps as a result of a draining El Clasico in midweek where they scraped a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their King's Cup tie with Barcelona.

"It was not a good game and we lost and I am responsible," said Mourinho.

"I didn't like the first half from the team, it was terrible. We improved after the break and we dominated. We had a chance to score but if we had taken it then the performance still wouldn't have been sufficient.

"It was a big effort after playing on Wednesday and some teams have a day longer to recover but that is not enough to explain the display as we needed to respond."

With Iker Casillas injured, Mourinho once again put his confidence in Diego Lopez in goal rather than youth product Antonio Adan while Raphael Varane also kept his place after an inspirational performance against Barca.

It was a baptism of fire for Granada coach Lucas Alcaraz who only had a few training sessions with the team after being appointed this week with the side only a place above the relegation zone.

He decided against making sweeping changes but did play new signing Nolito from Benfica on the left wing, with Dani Benitez injured, while Diego Buonanotte, who moved from Malaga, waited his chance on the bench.

... contd.

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