Football
Dermot Corrigan, Madrid correspondent 7y

Marcelo urges Real Madrid to learn from their mistakes in late Sevilla loss

Real Madrid defender Marcelo said his team had to learn from their mistakes after they let a one-goal lead slip to lose 2-1 in Sunday's dramatic top of the La Liga table clash at Sevilla.

A fiercely contested and tactically fascinating game saw Madrid set on course for victory when Cristiano Ronaldo calmly converted a 67th minute penalty, but Blancos captain Sergio Ramos headed a late own-goal as an equaliser for his former team, and Sevilla's January signing Stevan Jovetic fired in the winner from 20 yards in injury time.

Speaking to BeIn after the final whistle, the Real Madrid vice-captain said that his side relaxing after going ahead had been a fatal mistake.

"We played a good game, but after the goal we relaxed," Marcelo said.

"That's my point of view. We have made mistakes, and it's tough to take letting the points slip like this. But they got the equaliser and made it difficult for us in the end, and they got a boost and scored the second.

"There's a long way to go in La Liga and we will learn from the mistakes of today. We gave everything, but it was not to be."

The defeat puts an end to Madrid's all-time Spanish record run of 40 games unbeaten, and Marcelo said he and his teammates had given everything to try and keep the run going.

"We tried until the end, but in the end it could not be," he said. "We gave everything, we relaxed a little after the goal. We must learn from this so it does not happen again. But for me the team played a great game."

The Bernabeu outfit remain top of the La Liga standings, a point clear of Sevilla and two ahead of third-placed Barcelona, having played a game less than both their challengers.

Marcelo denied that this result had changed the perspective for the leaders.

"La Liga has always been open," he said. "There are many games yet to play. We are still top, and must learn from this and not make mistakes again."

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