Real looks to get past Barcelona disappointment

MADRID: Real Madrid will have to quickly get over the disappointment of a Spanish league defeat to Barcelona if it wants to maintain its hopes of winning the football title.

Barcelona has a three-point advantage following Saturday's 2-0 victory at Madrid, which cannot afford any kind of slip-up if it is to overtake the defending champion to win the championship.

With Barcelona hosting the head-to-head tiebreaker, Madrid must win its last seven games to have any chance, starting on Thursday against Almeria.

“The objective is to win every game and see what Barca does,” defender Alvaro Arbeloa said. “What we can't do is give up on the games we have left thinking that everything is lost. We've got a lot of work to do.”

Madrid will have to rediscover the confidence that was running high before its record fourth straight loss to its closest rival, which snapped a 12-game winning streak. Madrid had won all previous 15 league games at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium.

A dramatic title win may not even be enough to save coach Manuel Pellegrini, who took a team flush with over euro250 million ($364 million) in signings and seen it fall out of the Champions League and the Copa del Rey early.