Real Madrid have suffered back-to-back defeats for the first time since 2008 after they lost to Barcelona and Sevilla. This has severely hurt their title aspirations, as they are now in danger of conceding the league title to either rivals Atletico Madrid or Barcelona. Teams looking to win the title rarely drop points in the Spanish league, but Madrid have now dropped six points in the last two weekends.

This has allowed Atletico Madrid to open a three-point advantage with only seven matches remaining. Even though the club returned to winning ways after a 5-0 out of Rayo Vallecano at the Santiago Bernebeu, doubts have been starting about the title challenge of the team. Manager Carlo Ancelotti has come to the defence of his players by saying that he is confident that other teams will drop points between now and end of the season to allow Madrid to catch their rivals. Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, and Daniel Carvajal were all on the scoresheet against Rayo Vallecano.

The club will also have to look forward to the Champions League quarter-finals, in which they will face Borussia Dortmund. The German outfit thrashed Real Madrid in the semi-final stage last season, and the Spaniards will be looking for revenge this time around.

“Naturally, this win is important. Today we reacted well following two losses. We played a great game, with a good attitude on the pitch. This serves to prepare well for the next game. In the last two games we made errors at the back. Today we didn’t and we used the counter-attack well. The back four were good. We have to carry on. It’s an important part of the season for all of us. We could be better, given we lost twice, but physically we’re good,” said Ancelotti after the Rayo Vallecano win.