Nacho: "It was a difficult evening"

Real Madrid defender Nacho has admitted that his team were made to suffer for their spot in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

Los Blancos were beaten 4-3 by Schalke 04 in the second leg of their last-16 clash on Tuesday, but squeezed into the next round with an aggregate score of 5-4.

One more Schalke goal late on would have eliminated the holders, and Nacho has conceded that the Spanish side are struggling to replicate their early-season form.

"We're in the quarter-finals; not the way we wanted. It was a difficult evening. We didn't play the way we wanted, but we got through, which is what's important. It was a difficult game and Schalke are a good team. If they scored one more goal, we knew that we were out," Nacho told the club's official website.

"We haven't reached our peak level of performance for a few weeks, and we don't know the reason. We're working day in, day out to be the team of 2014, when we managed to win everything. We need to be calm and people have to have complete confidence in us; we're the same players, and with the level we have we're going to get through it."

Real Madrid have lost their last two games in all competitions.