Julen Lopetegui has said his side deserved to take all three points after being held to a 0-0 draw by Atletico Madrid at the Bernabeu.
Following Wednesday’s 3-0 defeat at Sevilla, Real have now failed to score in two successive La Liga games for the first time since 2011.
The Los Blancos’ coach told the postmatch news conference that he felt his team had dominated the game and deserved to win, while lamenting “adversity” which included another muscle injury for galactico Gareth Bale.
“We have not won the game because we have not scored a goal,” Lopetegui said. “But we were far superior to Atletico Madrid, in the end of first half and entire second half.
“Against a great team like Atletico Madrid we pinned them back, created many more chances than they did, overcome the adversity and injuries we have and played a very good game. But if you do not score then, logically, you cannot win.”
Madrid and Barcelona remain joint top of a tight La Liga table, with Atletico in fourth two points back. Lopetegui was asked if he felt his team had missed an opportunity in not taking advantage of Barcelona taking just two points from their last three games.
“We do not look at our rivals results, just at our own situation,” he said. “This is a long, hard league, and each game has maximum difficulty for all the teams. We showed character, personality, pride and that is the path to follow in each game. If you do not show that, then you can have a fright.
“There are many games left to play. Atletico are a great team, have joined the elite with magnificent signings, have a spectacular squad. They are candidates to win everything, so I am happy as we were better than a great team tonight.”
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