Real Madrid fell eight points behind leaders Barcelona after another disappointing 1-0 loss to Sevilla, as Lionel Messi struck a double to help his side to a 4-1 victory over Getafe.
Piotr Trochowski netted in the second minute off a corner to give Sevilla the lead, which they never relinquished, as a poor Madrid side failed to find any momentum and crashed to their second loss in four games. They have garnered just four points all season, with Barca still perfect, on 12 points from four matches.
Messi came off the bench to score two, as Barca stretched their lead over their bitter rivals. Cesc Fabregas, playing in the 'false 9' position, had a much better game, in the absence of Messi, who was not starting a game for the first time in a year. Fabregas' run into the penalty box, saw the ball fall kindly to Adriano, who made no mistake in opening the scoring.
Messi, then came on in the place of Thiago Alcantara on the hour mark, and doubled Barca's lead off the penalty spot. He made it 3-0, tapping in Martin Montoya's low cross. David Villa also came from the bench to add the fourth goal, after Pablo Sarabia's shot had deflected in off Javier Mascherano in the 80th minute to give Getafethe consolation goal.
At the Sanchez Pizjuan, it all went pear-shaped for Real early on, with Trochowski's goal. As Real's frustration grew, the game became more and more bad tempered and it seemed a mini-miracle that both teams had 11 men at the end of the match.
Jose Mourinho, who criticized his side's performances earlier in the season, was again a very unhappy manager. "I am only worried about my team," Mourinho told reporters on being asked about the big gap that already exists between Real and their archrivals Barcelona.
"I am worried that since the season started officially we have only really played well in the Spanish Super Cup. Nowhere else. More than the points I am worried that in this moment I don't have a team.
"Congratulations to Sevilla, they deserved to win without any doubt. We got the prize we deserved considering how badly we played."
Mourinho insisted the saga surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo, who said he was "sad" at the club for professional reasons after Real's win over Granada two weeks ago, had nothing to do with the poor performance. "It's got nothing to do with the rumor of the last two weeks," the Portuguese said.
"I don't think today was any different to the games we played against Getafe or Granada. To me, it's to do with the collective spirit. There are very few heads who are committed and concentrated, and who have football as the priority in their lives.
"When you don't have people who are committed, it's tough. But I am the coach, and if there are people who aren't committed it is my fault."
In other matches, Malaga won 3-1 thanks to an inspired performance from Javier Saviola, as Valencia picked up their first win of the season with a 2-1 result over Celta Vigo.
