Troy Parrott, on loan at Real Betis and not on anybody's list of players who beat Real Madrid, scored the only goal of the match nine minutes from time on Friday. Kylian Mbappe had a late penalty saved that would have salvaged a draw, which is the kind of sentence that reads like a joke until you remember Mbappe is paid like the answer to every question Madrid has. Betis, a club whose entire transfer strategy is loans and value bets, just beat the club that spent nine figures on the man who missed.

Here's the part that never makes the recap: Real Madrid's revenue is so large that one league defeat in September changes nothing about broadcast fees, the Bernabeu naming rights, or the Champions League seeding math that actually funds the operation. Parrott's loan fee was a rounding error next to Mbappe's release clause. Betis got three points. Madrid will still outspend them by a factor of ten before Christmas. The scoreboard says upset. The ledger says Tuesday.