Real Madrid keeper Keylor Navas had insisted that his side are now more determined than ever to lift the La Liga crown after being held to a 1-1 draw by Atletico Madrid.
A smart Antoine Griezmann finish five minutes from time at the Estadio Bernabeu on Saturday afternoon, cancelling out Pepe's earlier opener, appeared to blow the title race wide open once again.
Barcelona squandered the chance to move level on points at the summit with a 2-0 loss to Malaga in the evening kickoff, however, meaning that Los Blancos could well retain a three-point lead heading into the upcoming El Clasico showdown.
Navas claims that motivation will certainly not be an issue for Madrid in the closing weeks, as they look to go all the way in the Spanish top flight for the first time in five years.
"Now we are even more determined to go and win La Liga," Marca quotes him as saying. "We got our game together well and we wanted to take all three points but it wasn't to be. Against the big teams you have to put in a big performance and we have done that today but failed to close out the result."
Real have now failed to get the better of city rivals Atletico on home soil in the league in their previous four meetings, losing three and drawing one of those most recent encounters.
Daniel Lewis
