Sergio Ramos has insisted that "Real Madrid can never be considered dead" after responding to their critics by earning a 3-1 win over Paris Saint-Germain the Champions League.
Los Blancos have endured a disastrous domestic campaign to date, exiting the Copa del Rey to Leganes last month and finding themselves 17 points adrift of Barcelona in La Liga.
The Champions League is therefore all Madrid have left to fight for this term, and Wednesday night's comeback victory at home to PSG sets the back-to-back winners of the competition up nicely for next month's return leg in Paris.
Speaking to reporters after the match, Ramos said: "There's no better way to win than this - by showing your personality, and it is an important victory ahead of the return game. We have to keep going like this and showing our determination to defend our Champions League title.
"Any mistake can you cost you in games like this and in Paris, we will have to maintain maximum concentration. I think we were more effective than we have been before, but Real Madrid can never be considered dead.
"We suffered a little against them due to the speed of their players but we recovered well. In this game, we took an important step but it remains open and we have to keep working hard."
Real Madrid have won each of their seven Champions League knockout games at the Bernabeu under manager Zinedine Zidane.
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