"A match out of the ordinary": Valdano observes Real Madrid's contradictions on the night of their first defeat

Jorge Valdano, the former Real Madrid star and coach, analysed the Madrid side's first defeat in an official match under José Mourinho.

Real Madrid tasted defeat for the first time this season, slipping to a 1-0 loss away at Real Betis on Friday evening in the fourth round of the Spanish football league.

Valdano told "Movistar Plus Deportes": "Well, it is inopportune. It interrupts Madrid's happy state, which seemed to be growing stronger match after match."

The 70-year-old former footballer called the defeat "surprising" and pointed out that "I felt the lineup that played against Betis was the closest to the first-choice lineup that Real Madrid could field."

He stressed: "This was the first time everyone played together, the first time everyone was at Mourinho's disposal, and the result was a harsh blow."

"I have the feeling that it is a very technically talented team, with plenty of goals in it, which is exactly what it lacked in the last match," he continued.

Valdano added: "I see it as an exceptional match, in the literal sense of the word. Out of the ordinary, beyond the norm."