Barcelona and Real Madrid were miles off the pace after the international break as both sides went down to poor 1-0 defeats to Getafe and Cadiz respectively.
For Madrid, who also had captain Sergio Ramos suffer a knee injury, they lost to a well-drilled Cadiz side at home for the very first time in a performance where they deserved to lose.
Barcelona were equally inept, going down to Jaime Mata spot-kick but struggled to create any kind of opening throughout.
On the same matchday in 2018, Barca went down to Leganes while Madrid lost to Sevilla - which was the last time both sides lost on the same day.
But with the Clasico coming next Saturday, 24 October - this represents the first time that both of the Spanish giants lost their preceding fixture since the 2002/03 season.
On the weekend of 13 April, Madrid travelled to Real Sociedad where they were torn apart by Darko Kovacevic and Nihat who romped to a 4-2 victory.
Meanwhile Barcelona led twice at home to Deportivo La Coruna but Roy Makaay came to the fore, scoring twice in another 4-2 win, with both Clasico rivals humbled.
The Clasico that arrived the following week finished 1-1, with Ronaldo and Luis Enrique scoring first-half goals in a tense contest. Madrid would eventually go on to defeat Real Sociedad in a thrilling title race by just two points in the end.
Real Madrid 
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