QUIQUE: "THE DIFFERENCE LIES WITH THE CHANCES THAT WE MISSED"

Quique Sánchez Flores had plenty of positives to take away following the narrow defeat at the Santiago Bernabéu: "Considering that we were playing against Real Madrid, a team that puts you under pressure, presses high up the pitch and are agressive in winning the ball back, I don't think we did too badly. The first half was very even, in terms of attack and defence. We had more control of the midfield and created a couple of good chances. But in the second, they looked a bit fitter. They have plenty of quick players who are good, direct runners. In the end, they had too much for us, especially with the players they introduced from the bench."

Our head coach was keen to point out the team's improvements despite the result: "No matter the team, no matter the sport, to be successful you have to be good defensively. The team that wins the league is the team with the best defence. It's impossible to compete with the best teams without a strong backline. We have started to look comfortable at the back, even today against a very good side. But ultimately the difference lies with the chances that we missed. They would have put us ahead at very important stages of the game. We weren't quite accurate enough and their goalkeeper made an incredible save to deny us."

Quique didn't want to comment on Real Madrid's goal until watching replays but did discuss Ocampos being substituted: "Hopefully it's nothing, but he has had slight injury troubles throughout the season."