Real Madrid hit yet another stumbling block on Saturday as they drew 2-2 away to relegation-threatened Levante in La Liga.

Despite taking the lead on two separate occasions through Sergio Ramos and Isco, Los Blancos were unable to hold on for all three points.

It seemed Isco had scored the winner with nine minutes of normal time remaining, but Gianpaolo Pazzini scored in the 89th minute to bring Levante level.

It means Real are now a whole 19 points behind league leaders Barcelona in the table, albeit with one game in hand.

But for a miracle, there's no chance of Zinedine Zidane's side catching the Blaugrana with 16 games remaining.

Real have been poor all season and it's no coincidence that their lack of form has coincided with Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema's struggles in front of goal.

Speaking at a recent event in Spain, Gary Lineker said it was "hard to explain" what's happened to Real in comparison to last campaign.

"I'm surprised," said Lineker, per Mundo Deportivo. "I do not know what happened with Real Madrid this season because last season, they won almost everything.

"It's hard to explain, confidence is very important for the players, maybe some players are a bit older, I don't know if that's it."

Lineker claims he doesn't know why Real are struggling, but he may be on to something with his comments on the players' ages.

Ronaldo, for example, turned 33 years old on Monday, while Benzema recently turned 30. It's inevitable that they'll both start slowing down.

But for Ronaldo, his peak years are behind him and he's been surpassed by his rivals, which Lineker's comments about the Portuguese, Lionel Messi and Neymar suggest.

In the same interview, Lineker was asked, 'Ronaldo or Messi?' to which he replied: "I like Cristiano a lot, but Messi is from another world."

He was then asked, 'Ronaldo or Neymar?' and he said: "Neymar, but when he played in Barcelona. ​​Neymar is the future, Cristiano has been great."

Clear to see Lineker prefers both Messi and Neymar over Ronaldo - not to mention Tottenham's Harry Kane.

"For the future, Kane," replied the Match of the Day host when asked to pick between the two. Seems Ronaldo is gradually slipping down the pecking order in world football.