Fabio Capello's Real Madrid suffered a double blow on Saturday when they slumped to their first league defeat of the season, 1-0 away to Getafe, and had striker Ronaldo sent off in the dying minutes.
Centre back Alexis gave Bernd Schuster's side a thoroughly deserved victory over the nine-times European champions when he headed in from a corner 15 minutes into the second half.
Real, who host arch-rivals Barcelona next Sunday, gave one of their worst performances of the season. They looked shaky at the back, lightweight in midfield and short of ideas in attack.
Real's misery was compounded when Ronaldo was sent off just before the final whistle after he picked up a second yellow card for talking back to the referee.
The Brazilian, whose only previous red card at Real came two seasons ago in a Champions League match against Juventus, will now miss next week's clash against Barca.
"We played badly and couldn't cope with Getafe's speed and aggression," Capello said. "We deserved to lose and there are no excuses."
CONTROVERSIAL VICTORY
Real's other neighbours, Atletico Madrid grabbed a controversial 2-1 victory at home to Recreativo Huelva after Sergio Aguero scored the winning goal with his hand.
The Argentine teenager punched the ball across the line as he ran in at the far post after Fernando Torres had headed on a corner 12 minutes from time.
Both sides ended the game with 10 men, Recre losing defender Dani Bautista in the 81st minute and Atletico fullback Yourkas Seitaridis following him down the tunnel just before the final whistle.
The results mean that Atletico join Barcelona and Valencia at the top of the table on 13 points, although they have played a game more than their rivals. Real drop to fifth spot on 11 points.
Getafe, who have won two and drawn one of their three home matches against Real since making their debut in the top flight three seasons ago, move up to eighth place, a point behind their illustrious neighbours.
Schuster's side made all the running against Real at the Coliseo as they took control in midfield, pinned the visitors back in their own area and caused a host of problems for the opposition defence.
Real, meanwhile, were unable to string together more than a couple of passes and strikers Ruud van Nistelrooy and Antonio Cassano barely had a sniff of the ball up front.
Capello brought on Ronaldo and Raul in place of Cassano and Mahamadou Diarra after the break in an attempt to spice up the Real attack, but it was Getafe who continued to dominate and it came as little surprise when they took the lead on the hour.
Centre-back Alexis rose high above Raul Bravo to power in a header at the far post after Pablo Redondo had whipped in a corner from the right.