Real Madrid midfielder Casemiro has admitted that his team "have to play better and work harder" following their 2-1 defeat at Girona in La Liga on Sunday afternoon.

The shock result in Catalonia has left Real Madrid eight points off league leaders Barcelona on the same number of matches.

Casemiro has admitted that the gap "is a concern" at this stage of the campaign, but the Brazilian insists that his team have the credentials to still win the title.

"We have to play better and work harder than this," Casemiro told reporters. "We have to stay calm too but we did not play well and we did not create enough opportunities to win the game.

"We can't look for any excuses as ultimately we did not create as many chances as we normally do, and you must congratulate Girona for their role in that. The league table? The gap between us and our rivals is a concern but we must stay focused as we will still have chances to win this league."

Real Madrid will now switch their attention to the Champions League as they prepare to travel to Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday night.