Sergio Ramos has defended his teammates against accusations of a "poor attitude" and insisted that Real Madrid's shortcomings against Valencia were down to mistakes.
Los Blancos' 2-1 defeat in the Mestalla means they are still one point ahead of bitter rivals Barcelona at the summit of La Liga, but now only have one game in hand on them - with the impressive Sevilla a further three points back.
Cristiano Ronaldo's goal just before half-time proved to be a mere consolation and was not enough to cancel out Valencia's early double courtesy of former West Ham flop Simone Zaza and Fabian Orellana.
Despite having a whopping 72% ball possession, Madrid could only manage a single shot on target in the second half, and captain Ramos cited errors as opposed to a poor mind-set as the reason for the defeat.
ViaGoal, he said: "It was a high-intensity game. We wanted to take at least a point. It was a really good game in hand to increase the gap in the table.
"Two mistakes at the start penalised us. The team went out to play the game we wanted to from the first minute. Our attacking play sometimes is very risky and we lost the ball twice and conceded a goal each time.
"For me, there was no lack of attitude at any moment. We have to turn the page and learn from those mistakes. La Liga is very long and a lot of things can happen."
The 30-year-old has seen his side lose three times now in 2017, after getting off to a blistering start to the season under Zinedine Zidane.
Before losing to Sevilla in January, theyhad been onan extraordinary 40-match unbeaten run stretching back to last season.