Mourinho talked about the chances for his team to win la Liga following its latest set-back against Espanyol: "Thirteen points is too big a gap for us to make up but what we have to do is play every game. We mustn't concern ourselves with being first, second or third. We have to be stronger".

He said that this is a new situation for him: "I've never been in a position like this, losing so many points. We'll try to finish the season the best we can. We will fight for titles but the league seems impossible. We have to keep going because we are Real Madrid".

He explained Modric's half-time substitution: "He's played two consecutive games in three days. I didn't want to take him off because he didn't deserve it. I substituted him for strategic reasons. I thought that having Di María further out on the wing could help the team and that's what happened".

Time to pick themselves up and dust themselves off: "All the players pick themselves up on their own. It is professionalism and individual ambition that will keep us going. You're not happy, you're not enjoying it, you're losing too much, you're far from one objective but you have others".

"Just the name Real Madrid makes you fight for every game. You have to get on with it without any cheap philosophising or silliness, with the personal pride of wanting the best for yourself and for your club", Mourinho concluded.