He told the club's official website, www.realmadrid.com: "We dominated the whole time at the Camp Nou and here, but at the end of the day, you've got to put the ball away.

"They did. At the end of the day, it comes down to goals. We have to move on. We had a good chance to maybe cut the gap at the top of the league, but it didn't work out.

"We have to congratulate them, more for the result than their performance because I think we played well – they didn't dominate possession.

"But it wasn't enough to win all three points."

The win, which was secured by Ivan Rakitic's first-half strike, left Barca 10 points clear of second-placed Atletico Madrid, who are in turn two points better off than their city neighbours, on a night when Ramos and his team-mates had hoped to close the gap.

Asked about a gruelling few days, the Real skipper said: "They were two very intense games, very demanding games and we didn't have much time to recover. It takes its toll on the players, both teams.

"It's not an excuse, but I think we had good chances to take the lead and we didn't and if you don't put the ball away, maybe things don't work out for you."

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