Madrid - A Saturday night of surprises in Spain saw defeats for Real Madrid and Valencia. Real crashed 1-0 in Valladolid, a defeat which could call for the sacking of embattled coach Bernd Schuster.
Later on Saturday, Valencia went down 3-2 in Mestalla to Sporting Gijon, their second successive home defeat.
These results leave Real and Valencia in joint third place, together on 23 points.
They are one point behind second-placed Villarreal - who face Malaga on Sunday - and two points behind leaders Barcelona, who are away to Recreativo Huelva.
Valencia were taken to the cleaners by a Gijon side that has improved remarkably since starting the season with five straight defeats.
Luis Moran shot Gijon ahead in the 20th minute, after being played through by Michel. David Barral made it 2-0 for the visitors in the 52nd minute, with a clever left-foot drive.
In the 69th minute, David Villa pulled a goal back for Valencia from the penalty spot, after handball by Barral. But Unai Emery's disjointed team never looked capable of turning the game around, and Diego Castro made it 3-1 with a handsome volley eight minutes from time.
Youngster Juan Mata - called up for Wednesday's Spain-Chile friendly by Vicente del Bosque pulled a goal back for Valencia in injury time, but it came too late to save them.
"We cannot continue to give away points at home like this," said Valencia veteran Ruben Baraja. "We need to be more in control of our matches."
The shock win takes in-form Gijon up to seventh, their highest top flight placing since 1994.
Earlier on Saturday, Real Madrid had gone down in Valladolid almost without a fight.
The defeat confirms Real's massive crisis, coming as it does just four days after crashing out of the King's Cup against third division Union Irun.
This could prove to be the final nail in the coffin of Schuster, who may be sacked before Tuesday's Champions League clash away to BATE Borislav. Towards the end of the tense clash, he looked dejected, dispirited - and even resigned to his fate.
"I am tranquil," said Schuster. "We are working hard, but it is clear that this result does not help."
He then added that "I am worried and disappointed, since we did not deserve to lose this game. We were short on luck, but I am content because the team worked hard."
The only goal of a tight, often scrappy match, was put away by Uruguayan playmaker Fabian Cannobio in the 48th minute.
Pedro Leon centred from the right, Canobbio controlled calmly and scored with a powerful left-foot drive.
The closest that dull Real came to equalizing was in the 87th minute, when an appalling back pass from Borja Fernandez set up Raul. However, the veteran hitman was foiled by Valladolid keeper Sergio Asenjo, who enjoyed a surprisingly quiet evening.
Two minutes later, Valladolid defender Pedro Lopez had to clear a Fabio Cannavaro header off the line.
"It was a hard game," said Lopez. "We had to take care of all the details out there, in order to get this result."
