Real Madrid's disappointing week continued after a 1-0 loss to Valencia in an ill-tampered match that saw Vinicius sent off on Sunday evening.
Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti made six changes from the UEFA Champions League loss to Real Madrid, as Lucas Vazquez, Antonio Rudiger, Ferland Mendy, Aurelien Tchouameni, Dani Ceballos and Marco Asensio were recaled.
It took a while for matters to get going just before Madrid carved out a chance, where Karim Benzema got in space and drew Giorgi Mamardashvilli to a save.
Los Che proved decisive and were ahead three minutes after the half-hour mark when Diego Lopez sneaked ahead of Mendy at the far post and tucked in.
The visitors went in search of a quick reply moments gone as a floated ball from the right dropped in the area and saw Vinicius Junior nod over.
However, the host almost bagged a second goal where Nicolas Gonzalez pierced through a few bodies to get a shot in but Courtois parried and smothered the attacker's follow-up too.
Los Blancos decided to show a change following the break and removed Eduardo Camavinga to bring on Brazilian international Rodrygo Goes.
Valencia carved out yet another opening later on through the goal-scorer Lopez off Andre Almeida's switch of play, but Courtois palmed the curler.
The match was then interrupted due to two balls on the pitch before Vinicius endured an altercation with a section of the home support.
As matters resumed, Madrid enjoyed momentum and saw a fierce shot in the area by Federico Valverde drew Mamardashvilli to a save before the latter parried a free-kick from Toni Kroos too.
Tampers boiled over as clashes between the teams saw Vinicius shown a straight red card after the referee had consulted the Video Assistant Review (VAR).
Nonetheless, with the minutes ticking by the host continued to sit deep and claimed the victory to remain in mid-table.
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