Sunday 22 November 2015 11:44, UK
Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos has pleaded with fans for forgiveness after the 4-0 defeat by Barcelona at the Bernabeu, but wants revenge over their rivals in the next Clasico.
Barcelona ran riot at the home of their rivals on Saturday evening, with goals from Neymar, Luis Suarez (2) and Andres Iniesta putting them six points above Real in La Liga.
And Ramos, who admits words are cheap at this stage, is hoping the team put the result behind them, and is already looking ahead to another clash with Barcelona at the Nou Camp in early April.
He told the club's website after the game: "Today we have to ask the Real Madrid fans for forgiveness for our poor performance. We didn't play to the standards of this crest.
"These are things that can happen. Hopefully we can put this behind us. With this pain comes an opportunity to exact revenge in a few months' time and play the kind of game we wanted to play today.
"Today words are cheap. Those affiliated with Real Madrid want action, not words. Bearing that in mind, as we go home tonight we the team are angrier than anyone because it was a match in which we had a chance to finish as league leaders.
"We had an opportunity to regain our good form in this game but it ended up being a day in which nothing went to plan."
Ramos insists the players are behind manager Rafa Benitez, as pressure starts to build on the Spaniard despite only being charge at the Bernabeu for 16 games.
"Obviously we are standing firmly by the manager. In order be successful you have to remain united, and that's even more the case when things don't go well," said Ramos.
"We have faith in our manager and in our team-mates. We have to be united, dust ourselves off and be aware that there are six months remaining for us to fight for all three titles.
"It's too soon to be talking about failure."
