Twitterverse erupts as Real Madrid suffer first defeat since Zinedine Zidane's return

It appears Real Madrid's torrid campaign is far from over as the side faced their first defeat since the return of Zinedine Zidane as manager.

The Spanish giants succumbed to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Valencia on Wednesday night. Goncalo Guedes opened the scoring with a powerful shot in the 35th minute to give Valencia a first-half lead. The hosts then doubled their lead in the later stages of the second half with a header from defender Ezequiel Garay.

Karim Benzema found the net with a header at stoppage time, but it was not enough for Los Blancos to scrape a point.

The defeat marks Real Madrid's ninth defeat in LaLiga this season. The club currently sit at third place on the Spanish league table with 57 points and are thirteen points behind league leaders and rivals Barcelona.

Real Madrid were eliminated from the Copa del Rey and the UEFA Champions League and only have the LaLiga to play for. The club will hope to finish in the top three this season before they bring in reinforcements to rebuild the squad this summer.

Speaking at a news conference after the game, Zidane said, "They will try to finish the season in the best possible way. We are going to spend a few months in which we will talk about many different topics."

"It's true that, maybe in these games we lack some motivation. But these players are professionals and when they put on the shirt of this team they know they have to go for it and they do it."

"This is not an exam at all because these people are Real Madrid players. We are going through a complicated moment. We must also live the bad moments, it will not change anything."

Twitter has since exploded with reactions to the defeat.

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