Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid suffered yet another disappointing result, but this time it counted a lot after the latest loss against Barcelona put them four points behind the Catalan club in the title race.

Madrid had a six-point advantage at one stage in the season, but poor form in 2015 has seen Barcelona recently take the lead. Madrid absolutely had to avoid a defeat if they were to keep in the hunt for their first league title since 2012. They visited the Camp Nou for the second EL Clasico in the league. After allowing Barcelona to take the lead early on in the first half, Cristiano Ronaldo levelled things with a fine equaliser.

Just when it seemed that Madrid may take the edge in the second half, they threw too many men forward and committed yet another defensive lapse to allow Luis Suarez to score a goal that eventually turned out to be the winner. Their defeat is yet another setback for Ancelotti, whose position at the club has been questioned a lot in recent weeks. Madrid have managed only one win in the last five matches. Apart from losing their league title, the European champions also came very close to being knocked out by Schalke in the Champions League.

“We played well for the first hour, but the last half hour was terrible.It is a blow, but we won’t give up. We lacked a cool head to try to equalise rather than playing long balls. We played a lot better until the second goal. After that it was very difficult.In the first half we played very well, we had control, were dangerous up front and solid at the back. It’s more difficult, but we’re not going to prioritise the Champions League. The priority is La Liga and the Champions League,” said Ancelotti.