Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti had no complaints after their shock 3-2 defeat to Rayo Vallecano on Monday night.
It was a well-deserved win for the home side, who dominated the opening stages and scored an early opener when Santi Comesana fired in Fran Garcia's cutback.
Real Madrid were overwhelmed throughout the first half, but were handed a get-out-of-jail-free card when Fran Garcia was punished for a tangle with Marco Asensio, with Luka Modric converting the penalty in the 37th minute.
Then, before Rayo Vallecano could catch their breath, Eder Militao turned in at a corner to make it 2-1 to the visitors.
That wild first half was then capped off with an Alvaro Garcia strike just before the break, which was so powerful that it basically went through Thibaut Courtois.
That made it 2-2 at half time, and Rayo Vallecano probably deserved more at that stage.
In the second half, they did recover the lead and they did so via the penalty spot, after Dani Carvajal had swatted a bouncing ball away with a flailing arm inside the area.
Although Courtois saved Oscar Trejo's first attempt, a retake was ordered as Carvajal was inside the box before the ball was kicked. The Belgian guessed the right way again, but Trejo's kick squeezed in.
Ancelotti said: "We needed to be a bit tougher. We had trouble playing out from the back. We could've played more direct balls forward and we lost a few individual duels. The quality was lacking a bit for us to draw the game. We had chances to score that we'd put away normally and we were a bit below par in terms of toughness".
“It's not related to the World Cup. We're heading into the break a bit stretched because we've played a lot of games. This is happening to every team. It's hard to make it to the end and even more so when you play every three days. We're not as fresh as we were before. In these types of games when the opposition presses you and is aggressive, you need players with fresh legs. It's a normal thing. We've dropped off a bit but we're still in the fight for everything. We're disappointed we're not top, but it's a long league season. The players are focussed and doing their best. Sometimes things don't go your way".
