It had to end sometime, and that sometime was Sunday for Real Madrid. Playing Sevilla for the third time in 10 days, on the road no less, they dropped all three points and only have themselves to blame.

Sevilla, who many may be surprised to know sit in second-place in La Lga ahead of Barcelona, had lost the last two matches against Real Madrid. Both matches were in the Copa del Rey tournament, therefore it would be reasonable to expect Sevilla was looking to exact some revenge against Los Blancos. 

For over half the match neither team was able to put the ball in the back of the net. That is until Dani Carvajal coaxed a penalty out of Sevilla inside the area, leading to Cristiano Ronaldo converting from the spot. Madrid held a slim 1-0 lead until late, despite many of their stars not turning in their best performances.

Sevilla was able to get level, no thanks to their own efforts, but thanks to one of their former prospects, Sergio Ramos. Ramos' first club was Sevilla before coming over to Real way back when, and headed a ball into his own goal to let the hosts tie the match at one in the 85th minute.

Real again turned against themselves when Karim Benzema lazily let Stevan Jovetic steal the ball from him, and steal three points after Jovetic netted the match winner in extra time.

Despite the loss to Sevilla, Real Madrid still find themselves in first-place, albeit with a slim one-point lead. However, the league leaders have played one less match than the rest of the league, therefore once they even that out they could be as many as four points ahead.

And the chance for three pieces of silverware is still there, with Madrid still alive in the Copa del Rey and Champions League competitions. Last season Zinedine Zidane came in not having to worry about the Copa, thus was able to better balance his lineup and prepare them to finish the league and European competition strong. This time around he's missing Gareth Bale for at least a month or two, and who knows how long it will take to get him back to full speed once he does return.

Zidane has his work cut out for him these next four months. Thanks to the recent 40 match unbeaten streak, it is now required that multiple  trophies are added at season's end.

Photo: Flickr/Nazionale Calcio