Real Madrid defender Pepe says the team needs to keep fighting for the title after losing more ground on Barcelona and Atletico de Madrid.
After Los Cules squandered a two-goal lead at home to Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday, Real had the chance to cut the gap on them to two points with victory against Villarreal. But Real slipped to a 1-0 defeat at El Madrigal despite having 20 shots on goal.
It means the 10-time Champions League winners are now five points behind the top two and with plenty of work to do.
Speaking to reporters, the Portugal international stated: “I think we have to talk to each other and solve some of these problems. We played really well in 4 or 5 games and, although we haven’t been able to narrow the gap on Barcelona and Atlético, we’re still in the fight. Following the Barcelona result we now need to play our brand of football and fight until the very end, which is what the supporters what from us and what we are going to give them.”
About the game itself, Pepe admitted Real had been too wasteful.
“It was a game of two halves. We struggled to get into the first half and couldn’t get a read of the game. We knew we had to give it our all after the break. That was a different story; we had loads of chances but couldn’t put them away.”
