19:39h CET

Marcelo spent a few moments with the press in the Mixed Zone at the Bernabéu after this afternoon's defeat to Barça. The left-back admitted that Real Madrid's chances of winning the league are now a little lower but says the team is not going to give in. He also gave his support to Zidane, who was criticized for his team selection.

Full screen Juan Carlos Hidalgo (EFE)

Madrid didn't switch off, says Marcelo

What happened after the break? Did the team switch off? "No, not at all. The half-time chat was about continuing what we'd done in the first half. When you lose a player, everything becomes a lot harder. We had a great first half, we had chances and Barça didn't have that many… Both halves were very different but that's football. At no point did we switch off. Barça are a great team. It's a sad afternoon for us but we're going to carry on, we have to keep going”.

La Liga: “It's very difficult but Real Madrid never surrenders, we have to continue, keep chipping away and focus on what we do; we'll see - with a little luck and hard work.. that's all we can do”.

Why do you think Madrid lost the game? “We tried to carry on doing what we did in the first half. Playing against Barça really tires you out. You never stop running and it tires you mentally too. The second half turned out differently to the first. We went a player down and after that, they killed us. That¡s football. If it had happened the other way around, maybe we would have won. We tried everything. We're talking about Barça, and it's not easy to play them. Some things you just cannot do. We conceded a goal and tried to continue but we didn't play as well as we did in the first half. We did what we could to put in a good game”.

Full screen JAVIER GANDUL (DIARIO AS)

Nothing wrong with Zidane's team selection

Zidane got it wrong starting with Kovacic while Benzema was whistled... “The Bernabéu is very demanding, to play for Madrid there is always pressure and huge demands on you… That's just the way it is if you want to play here. The line-up? I am 100% behind the boss, I will defemnd him to the death - no doubt about that. Many people seem to have forgotten what he has won with Madrid. We won five trophies this year, and it's not the end of the story. He is a brilliant coach. I thought the line-up was good and we're with him to the death”.

What did Zidane say to you? “That we have to go out there with our heads held high. It's how it is. Football is like that: one day you're happy, the next, sad”.