Sevilla boss Julen Lopetegui claims his side were afraid to take the next step and beat Real Madrid in Sunday night La Liga action.
The Andalucians headed into the game looking to end a poor recent record against Los Blancos and keep alive their fading title hopes.
However, despite making a perfect start at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, with goals from Ivan Rakitic and Erik Lamela, Sevilla were hit by a second half onslaught.
Carlo Ancelotti’s visitors completely flipped the script, as three late goals completed a fantastic week for the league leaders, and Lopetegui claimed his players simply failed to react.
“We lost the game and that is bad, in the first half we were well above them but in the second half they have come from behind”, as per reports from Marca.
“We didn’t know how to manage the key moments. There was fear of winning.
“They scored very early in the second half, and made us doubt ourselves. We had a good first half, but there are two parts in every game.”
Up next for Sevilla is a midweek trip to face relegation battling Levante on April 21 before hosting neighbours Cadiz next weekend.
Lopetegui admitted his side still face a battle to secure a Champions League qualification place with another four wins likely to secure their spot in the coming weeks.
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