Espanyol 1 Real Madrid 0: Ronaldo omission backfires

Real Madrid struggled without the rested Cristiano Ronaldo as they were beaten 1-0 away at lowly Espanyol on Tuesday.

Zinedine Zidane's decision to rest Cristiano Ronaldo backfired as Real Madrid suffered a shock 1-0 loss away at Espanyol on Tuesday.

Gerard Moreno was the hero for the hosts, slamming home a half-volley deep into injury time, as Quique Sanchez Flores' side recorded their first victory over Madrid since 2007.

Ronaldo had scored eight goals in his last two trips to the RCDE Stadium but Zidane opted to leave the Portuguese forward at home, no doubt with next week's Champions League second leg against Paris Saint-Germain in mind.

Minus their top scorer, as well as the influential…