Faced with a Basque formation which never closed the game and bravely played its luck, Real opened the scoring through Vinicius, on a returning cross badly negotiated by Osasuna goalkeeper Sergio Herrera (42nd).

But against all odds, the Navarrese club equalized in the 50th minute by Kike Garcia, with a superb returned header which lobbed the Ukrainian goalkeeper of Real, Andriy Lunin, holder in the absence of Thibaut Courtois, injured.

Karim Benzema, returning to competition after his right thigh injury in early September in the Champions League, missed the winning goal by sending a penalty on the crossbar (79th).

A penalty which had been whistled after viewing the VAR for a foul on the French captain of David Garcia, excluded on the action.

With this precious point snatched from hard struggle, Osasuna progresses from eighth to sixth place.

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With these two precious points lost by Real, Barça finds itself alone at the top of La Liga for the first time, thanks to a better goal difference (+18 against +11).

The two leading teams each have six wins and a draw since the start of the season.

Barcelona had been hooked at home by Rayo Vallecano (0-0) on the first day.

On Saturday, he won without shining in Mallorca (1-0), thanks to a new goal from Robert Lewandowski, his ninth of the season in the league.

Barcelona and Real are three points ahead of Athletic Bilbao (3rd), easy winner of Almeria (4-0) Friday at the start of the day.

Courage and solidarity

Sunday at the Santiago-Bernabeu, where the kick-off was given by one of the former glories of the White House, Amancio (82), Real and their very "international" starting lineup (three French, two Germans, two Brazilians, two Spaniards, an Austrian and a Ukrainian) started out as a huge favourite, and would certainly have deserved to win the game as a whole.

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But the courage and solidarity of the Basques allowed them to put all Madrid's attempts in check, except for Vinicius' goal on which the Osasuna goalkeeper did not seem free from reproach.

Rodrygo (61st) on a shot too high, or Mariano Diaz, from a header slightly above (90 + 2), each in turn almost scored the winning goal for Madrid, but nothing there did.

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Real will try to win its tenth victory (in eleven matches) of the season in all competitions on Wednesday when they host Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League.

© 2022 AFP