Real Madrid will be mindful of the perils of another slip-up when they travel to Real Valladolid in their La Liga game Saturday.
The Spanish champions are already 11 points behind leaders Barcelona, and can trim that gap to eight with a win over Real Valladolid, who have made a good start to the league with 21 points from 14 games seeing them in seventh.
"Valladolid are complicated opponents," Real assistant manager Aitor Karanka told reporters. "They are enjoying a good season, but we're just concentrating on winning.
"They are playing a sound game with a trainer who can transmit his idea of football. The only thing we have to think about is winning those three points."
Real are facing a bit of a crisis in the left-back department with both Marcelo and Fabio Coentrao out injured, and Karanka acknowledged there was a problem, but said Jose Mourinho was trying to find a solution for Saturday's game.
"We are studying different ways of covering the left flank in the new Jose Zorilla stadium," Karanka added, while also praising Ronaldo. "Professionals like him play an important role on the pitch. If they score, great, and if they don't, then they are team players. He is a real professional."
Real captain Iker Casillas said the team's priority was to climb up the table as quickly as they can. "The targets set for the end of the year are there," he told the club's official website. "The pity is perhaps that the distance between us and Atletico in the league, despite having reduced it last weekend, and with Barcelona is quite big.
"But we made it through to the next round of the Champions League and we expect a tough opponent in a difficult knockout tie, but between now and February there will be time to prepare. Now we want to focus on the league, and cut the points difference with the teams above, and keep getting through the rounds in the Copa del Rey."
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Expected lineups: Real Valladolid: Hernandez; Rukavina, Serano, Valiente, Balenziaga; Perez, Alvaro; Ebert, Oscar, Ramos; Manucho.
Real Madrid: Casillas; Arbeloa, Varane, Pepe, Ramos; Alonso, Khedira; Di Maria, Ozil, Ronaldo; Benzema.
Prediction: 3-0 to Real Madrid
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