Real Madrid manager, Zinedine Zidane, has said his team “lacked many things today” and “lost the game in the first 10 minutes”, after they were beaten 2-1 by Valencia on Wednesday.

Madrid conceded two qucik goals in the first half of the game at the Mestalla, as Simone Zaza and Fabian Orellana out the hosts ahead.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s header pulled one back, but it was not enough, as Zidane’s men failed to extend their lead at the top of La Liga.

“The truth is we lost the game in the first 10 minutes,” Zidane said at this post-match press conference.

“We started well with the ball, playing football, had a chance to score. But we made mistakes at the back, they had players between the lines all the time, and they scored two goals. We were very open, and they punished us. Then we had 80 minutes to come back into the game. We had chances to do that, but we lacked many things today. There was a chance to pick up points, which we did not do.

“We did not do badly with the ball, on the contrary, we did well. Maybe we lacked a bit of cleverness in the final pass, but that’s it. They defended very deep, together, were better than us in the air, and that’s that.”

Madrid are a point ahead of rivals Barcelona, with Sevilla two points behind in third place. They travel to Villareal in their next game on Sunday.