Luka Modric: 'Barcelona punished us'

Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric has conceded that his side afforded Barcelona 'too much space' in Saturday's El Clasico at the Bernabeu.

Los Blancos entered the match needing to win to move level on points with the Catalan outfit in the La Liga table, but it was Barcelona that ran out 4-0 winners.

Modric has denied that his side had the wrong mentality in the match, but has admitted that they did not work hard enough to stop Luis Enrique's team.

"It's a difficult moment for us. We didn't expect to lose and play so badly. We have to learn from our mistakes," Modric told Real Madrid's official website.

"We don't think that it is an attitude problem, but we don't know the reason. We didn't play as a team, and if you're not compact against Barcelona, then this happens.

"They're a very good team when they have space to play in, and that was the problem. We weren't compact out on the pitch and we gave the other team a lot of space."

Real Madrid have now lost their last two in the league having previously made an unbeaten start to the season under new boss Rafael Benitez.