Zinedine Zidane said Real Madrid are down but not out in the Champions League yet the stark reality is their season could be over in March for a second year running if they keep unravelling in the Clasico on Sunday.
In more than half a century of playing in Europe's premier competition, Real have never overturned a first leg defeat at home to go through, indicating the size of the task in front of them when they face Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on March 10.
"We know the situation, we have to go there and win," Zidane said.
"If there is any team that can do it, with their experience and history, it is Real Madrid," admitted Pep Guardiola.
But even if the 2-1 loss is still retrievable, a five-point deficit behind Barcelona in La Liga might not be, should Zidane's team do the unthinkable and make it three consecutive defeats in the week that was billed as potentially season-defining.
They can take heart from Barca's own, numerous, fallibilities but lose this weekend, and a kind run-in for the Catalans that includes only one more away game versus La Liga's top six, would not offer too many chances for Madrid to get back.
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In his press conference late on Wednesday, Zidane lamented a string of defensive errors in a wild 12 minutes which surrendered what would have been a decent 1-0 advantage, and instead handed control to City.
"What bothers me is that we played well only to make those mistakes at the end," he said.
"The final 10 minutes was very bad." Sergio Ramos, whose form has been wavering for weeks, was caught under Kevin de Bruyne's cross before a weak hand from Thibaut Courtois failed to keep out Gabriel Jesus' header.
The usually dependable Dani Carvajal then gave away the winning penalty after inexplicably sliding in on Raheem Sterling.
Ramos' split-second decision to bring down Jesus to incur a red card and suspension might still prove astute, given Real's chances in the second leg are probably improved with two away goals to chase without their captain, rather than three and with him.
"We can think about yesterday's defeat or work on tomorrow's win," wrote Ramos on social media.
"I choose the latter. Head and heart already on el Clasico."
- Clasico statement -
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