Real Betis stuns Real Madrid as Troy Parrot breaks Jose Mourinho's unbeaten start to the season

Real Madrid fell to their first defeat of the 2026-27 season against Real Betis. (Image credits – CommonsWikipedia, License Details)

Real Madrid's perfect start to the 2026-27 La Liga season came to an end as Real Betis produced a remarkable performance to grind out a 1-0 victory at Estadio La Cartuja on Friday.

Troy Parrot netted the winner in the 81st minute, punishing Jose Mourinho's side that had created many opportunities but failed to find a way past Álvaro Vallés guarding Betis’ goal.

This is a massive result for Manuel Pellegrini's side, who had suffered a heavy 5-2 defeat against Levante in their previous game.

Betis had won two games out of their opening three games but faced a Madrid side that had won all of their opening three games, that too in a dominating style.

Jose Mourinho's side controlled the game from the beginning and created multiple chances.

Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham missed key chances which would've taken the game far away from the home side.

Despite Real Madrid's constant threat, Betis remained disciplined and ensured that the visitors couldn't turn their constant pressure into a breakthrough.

The breakthrough arrived for the home side when the new signing Troy Parrot found the rebound and scored his first goal for the club and sent La Cartuja into celebration.

The visitors thought they had found the equaliser; shortly after conceding, substitute Carlos Espí put the ball in the net, but the goal was overturned following a VAR review.

Real Madrid kept pushing, but Real Betis held firm defensively. Late in injury time, Betis defender Natan brought down Vinicius Junior inside the box, and the visitors got a penalty in the dying minutes to salvage something out of the game.

However, Kylian Mbappe stepped up from the spot with an absurd run-up, and Alvaro Valles read the direction perfectly and saved the spot kick before celebrating in front of the Frenchman.

For Real Madrid, this loss ends their three-game unbeaten run and leaves them on 9 points from four games, behind rivals FC Barcelona, who are also on 9 points but have a game in hand against Valencia this week.

Real Betis, meanwhile, move on to the third place with 9 points and will take huge confidence from this win, where they defeated one of La Liga’s title favourites.

It wasn't the most dominant display from Pellegrini's side, but it was a disciplined one.

The home side absorbed pressure, remained compact defensively and waited to strike, which was ultimately provided by their new signing Parrott handing Jose Mourinho his first loss after arriving at Real Madrid.