Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti has insisted that his side are still in the La Liga title race despite their disappointing defeat to Mallorca on Sunday.
An own goal from Nacho decided the contest at Visit Mallorca Estadi, with Marco Asensio missing a second-half penalty for the visitors during a frustrating afternoon.
The result has left Los Blancos second in the table, five points behind leaders Barcelona, but the Catalan outfit will have the chance to move eight points clear when they welcome Sevilla on Sunday night.
Barcelona have only dropped points in three of their 19 league games this season, so an eight-point advantage at this stage would put Xavi's side in a very strong position to win the title.
However, Ancelotti has said that his team will "fight for the league until the end" when asked whether the Champions League had now become the more important competition.
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"What is more important is every game we have to play. Now we have to play the Club World Cup, which we want to win, and then we'll fight for the league until the end," the Italian told reporters during his post-match press conference.
"It's not over yet, there are still a lot of games to go. What happened to us today can happen in every game."
Real Madrid will take on Liverpool over two legs in the last-16 stage of the Champions League, but their immediate focus is on the Club World Cup, with the team set to face Al Ahly in the semi-finals of the competition on Wednesday night.
"Tough. It was the match we were expecting. A very tough match, difficult. We didn't have the luck to handle it, because they scored against us very early and then it was very difficult," Ancelotti added on Sunday's loss.
"A lot of fouls, and the match stopped many times. We deserved to draw, we missed the penalty, we had chances in very tight spaces.
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"It's a defeat that hurts a lot in this sense, but it was the game we expected. We prepared for a tough, difficult match, with a lot of fouls and interruptions. The small details determined the match. The early goal and the missed penalty really affected us.
"The match wasn't bad, in my opinion, but it was an atypical match, with a lot of interruptions. Now we have to think about the Club World Cup, where we are very excited."
Ancelotti also explained his decision to bench both Toni Kroos and Luka Modric, with the pair not introduced until the second half of the contest.
"Kroos was out injured after the Valencia game, it was better to avoid problems. Luka had played a game less than 72 hours ago and I didn't want to risk him," he added.
"The team played a good game in terms of energy, especially in the first half."
Real Madrid were missing Karim Benzema, Eder Militao, Ferland Mendy, Lucas Vazquez and Eden Hazard through injury on Sunday, while Thibaut Courtois also missed out due to a problem that he picked up during the warm-up.
Matt Law
