Zinedine Zidane could not hide his frustration as Real Madrid were held to a 1-1 draw at Elche on Wednesday to slip two points behind La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid.
Luke Modric put Real ahead with a fine first-half header but the Spanish champions wasted a glut of chances to add to their tally before Elche equalised through a Fidel Chaves penalty after the break.
"The sensations are not good because we had chances and could not kill the game," Zidane told reporters.
"Once they scored they closed up at the back and it was very difficult for us."
Champions Real had won their previous six matches in all competitions but Zidane dismissed suggestions his side had been complacent against Elche, who are back in the top flight for the first time since 2015.
"I don't think we suffered from over confidence, because we know exactly what was at stake. The key was finding the second goal but we weren't able to. It was much harder after they equalised although we still created chances," he said.
"We've dropped two points today but we have to keep going and think about our next game."
A Luis Suarez header gave Atletico Madrid a 1-0 home win over Getafe to mark Diego Simeone's 500th game in charge.
The Uruguayan glanced in a lofted pass from Yannick Carrasco to put Atletico ahead in the 20th minute and they ground out the win to preserve their remarkable record of never conceding a goal to Getafe since Simeone became coach nine years ago.
"We should congratulate the coach, it's a lot of years in charge he's given the team a lot of stability and he's fundamental to the way we are," Koke said.
A third consecutive league victory took Atletico on to 35 points after 14 games, two ahead of second-placed Real.
