Carlo Ancelotti has admitted that Real Madrid's La Liga title bid suffered a potentially fatal blow in their 2-2 draw with Valencia.
Second-placed Madrid slipped four points behind Barcelona after Los Che, who went 2-0 ahead, held them at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday night.
With just two games left in the calendar, the Italian coach concedes that overhauling Barca's advantage is "much more difficult" as a result of the setback.
"We scored two goals, hit the frame of the goal three times and missed a penalty. The result hurts, but it can happen sometimes," he told reporters.
"[Winning La Liga] will now be much more difficult [than it was before], but there are still two matches left and we must try to win them both.
"We're all disappointed with the result, given that we played the match with confidence."
Goals from Paco Alcacer and Javi Fuego helped the visitors into a 2-0 half-time lead, with Cristiano Ronaldo missing a penalty before the break.
Pepe reduced the arrears on 56 minutes before Isco completed the comeback with six minutes left, but the hosts failed to find an elusive winner.
Shane Callaghan
