Real Madrid’s Casemiro: Real Betis ‘were superior and played better’ on the night.

Casemiro and Varane react to Real Madrid’s loss to Real Betis.

Casemiro says there is no excuse for Real Madrid's loss to Real Betis on Sunday.

Los Blancos, who thrashed Barca in last week’s El Clasico, were beaten 2-1 by Betis, and the Brazil midfield ace reckons the loss could cost Zinedine Zidane’s side the LaLiga title.

The defeat means Madrid have moved to second spot, two points adrift of Barcelona in the table with 11 matches remaining.

"They were superior and played better, there is no excuse, football is simple," the midfielder said, via the club's website.

"In LaLiga every game is difficult. To win LaLiga we have to play well in every game and we didn't play well.

"We have to keep working hard, we have not been up to the task and we have not played like we did against Barcelona.

"We are human too, but it could cost us the league title. We have to look at Eibar now."

Barca boss Quique Setien pleased with narrow win against Real Sociedad.

Madrid defender Raphael Varane issued a rallying cry following the match at the Benito Villamarín Stadium, asking his side to keep fighting on.

"We lacked a lot of intensity, especially in the first half. We didn't play at the pace we wanted to and we let the opponents have the ball," the Les Bleus star said.

"We're dropping important points, but we're confident we can fight until the end.

"We're trying very hard to get back to the top of the league and today was a drop in quality from everyone.

"We still have a lot of games left to play and we're confident we're going to get that intensity back."

Real Madrid star has had a 'successful' surgery on his foot.

Zinedine Zidane is solely focused on his job at the Santiago Bernabeu.