Levante have shocked Real Madrid 1-0 as revenge for their 8-0 drubbing last term.
Madrid, who beat Levante 8-0 in the Copa del Rey last season, started well enough but the 41st-minute dismissal of midfielder Sami Khedira was a key incident and Levante took advantage to claim the points thanks to Arouna Kone's second-half strike.
Aside from Khedira's red card, there were also 11 other yellow cards shown as the referee was kept busy in a tempestuous encounter at the Ciutat de Valencia.
The result leaves Madrid three points behind pacesetters Valencia and one behind arch rivals Barcelona, who recorded an 8-0 win of their own on Saturday night after thumping Osasuna.
Real coach Jose Mourinho remarked: "The match evened out once we were down to ten men. One of the teams kept defending, albeit less, and the other wanted to attack but lacked potential to do so. The game ended once they scored. We played well in the beginning.
"Our opponent didn't enter our half of the pitch and Casillas didn't even touch the ball. We had great chances to score and we failed to capitalise on them because the pitch was in bad shape and Levante defended fiercely. We dominated the match at times. There was a clear penalty that wasn't awarded to us and it would have also meant that player's second booking. If we had scored and they had been left with ten men the game would have been different.
"All points are important and it's better to lose one game than to draw two. Losing is tougher psychologically than drawing a match, but drawing two is worse than losing one. We'll be in a better position if we exchange this defeat with a reduced number of draws. Every game and every point at stake is important."
