Real Madrid suffered another huge blow after losing a seven-goal thriller at home to Sevilla to fall nine points adrift of Primera Liga leaders Barcelona.
Madrid, who lost 3-1 at Getafe last weekend, staged a magnificent second-half comeback to level the scores up at 3-3 having trailed 3-1 and been jeered off at half-time.
But the 77th minute sending-off of the hugely-impressive Arjen Robben was a massive setback for Madrid, and seven minutes after that Renato Dirnei headed home Sevilla's winner.
This defeat, which is Madrid's third in their last four league games, not only drops the champions down to fifth place but also puts them under even more pressure ahead of their trip to the Nou Camp next weekend.
Madrid welcomed back Fabio Cannavaro, Robben and Gonzalo Higuain after injury and they each showed what the champions had been missing, with the latter especially outstanding in a losing cause. Robben and Higuain combined in the opening 13 seconds, with the Dutchman's low shot saved by Andres Palop.
That was a promising start for Madrid, but it was to all turn sour three minutes later as Sevilla took the lead through Adriano after Iker Casillas had failed to cut out a right-wing cross.
Madrid could barely have had a worse start, but they were back on level terms by the 15th minute thanks to captain Raul.
The long-serving striker had fluffed a decent opening moments earlier but he made amends when he got on the end of Guti's curling free-kick to glance a header low past Palop.
That was a high point of a depressing first half for Madrid though, as they shipped two more goals to leave the pitch at the interval 3-1 down and with a cascade of boos from the home fans ringing in their ears.
Sevilla, who were hammered 3-0 by Barcelona last weekend, re-took the lead when Ndri Romaric headed home Renato's free-kick from six yards out.
Then, after Rafael van der Vaart had twice gone close for Madrid with efforts that were saved by Palop, the hosts found themselves 3-1 down just before the break when Kanoute scored.
Two Madrid players went to block an attempted shot by Renato, and when the rebound fell to Frederic Kanoute, he had all the time and space he needed to pick his spot and calmly slot the ball past Casillas.
Van der Vaart, who along with fellow Dutchman Robben, looked Madrid's most threatening player in the opening 45 minutes, brought another stop out of Palop just before the break, but it was not enough to save the champions from incurring the wrath of their fans.
The same Madrid supporters were singing a different tune 25 minutes into the second half though as the champions staged a brilliant recovery to level the scores.
Higuain, who scored all of his side's goals here during their recent 4-3 win over Malaga, started the comeback by hammering a low 30-yard thunderbolt into the bottom corner.
That came in the 66th minute, and within two minutes Madrid drew level when the unlikely figure of Fernando Gago headed home Guti's free-kick.
Madrid were rampant at that stage, and the Sevilla goal led a charmed life during a remarkable five-minute spell which saw Palop produced a brilliant save to deny Raul, while Higuain and Robben both hit the woodwork.
But while Madrid pushed men forward in search of another goal, Sevilla also had a chance but Casillas superbly saved Navas' effort after the Andalusian side had enjoyed a four-on-two breakaway.
Madrid's hopes of forcing a late winner suffered a massive blow when Robben was sent off.
Robben had been on fire but he was sent for an early bath when he was shown a second yellow card for arguing with the referee.
The hosts continued to push forward despite that setback, but they would end up empty-handed after Sevilla netted their winner against the run of play.
Kanoute did the hard work down the right and his cross into the middle found Renato completely unmarked and he had the simple task of heading past Casillas.
