AFTER surrendering a record 40-game unbeaten run, Real Madrid suffered a second defeat in four days Wednesday as Celta Vigo took a 2-1 first leg lead from their Copa del Rey quarterfinal at the Santiago Bernabeu.

    All three goals came in a six-minute spell midway through the second-half as strikes from former Liverpool striker Iago Aspas and Jonny either side of Marcelo’s reply for Madrid handed Celta a famous win.

    Real players can still salvage their quest for a first ever treble of Cup, La Liga and Champions League, but now need to score at least twice when they visit Balaidos for the second leg Jan. 25.

    “I am not worried,” insisted Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane.

    “It is not a good moment for us, two defeats (in a row), but we can overcome this. We still have the return leg to go.

    “Losing 2-1 the result is not in our favor, but we know we can go there and change that.”

    Celta Vigo boss Eduardo Berizzo said the Galicians’ first win at the Bernabeu in a decade didn’t surprise him, but that they would need to be even better next week on home soil to finish the tie off.

    “None of my team’s victories surprise me. It is a huge win, coming to a place like this and facing the best team in the world, but we believed we could do it,” said Berizzo.

    Cristiano Ronaldo was making his first appearance in the Copa del Rey for two years as Zidane named a strong side with just four changes from the team that was beaten for the first time in 41 matches at Sevilla on Sunday.

    However, with temperatures plummeting below zero and the match not kicking off until 9:15 p.m. local time, the subdued atmosphere at the Bernabeu was matched by a lackluster Madrid display.

    Ronaldo had to wait until 33 minutes for his first clear sight of goal, but failed to make a clean connection with Sergio Ramos’s cut-back and Jonny was able to clear from underneath his own crossbar.

    An unfortunate hand injury to Marco Asensio as he was accidentally trod on by Facundo Roncaglia ensured Ronaldo moved from the center of the Madrid attack back onto his habitual position on the left as Alvaro Morata was introduced early in the second-half.

    Morata has scored four times as a substitute this season, and nearly had an instant impact when he blazed over when well-positioned inside the area.

    Instead, it was Celta who got the opener as the game sprung into life in the final 25 minutes.

    Marcelo’s miscued clearance from Theo Bongonda’s cross only found the grateful Aspas alone inside the area and he rifled the ball high past Kiko Casilla for his 15th goal of the season.

    (SD-Agencies)