Levante midfielder Jose Barkero has admitted the sleepless nights are piling up on the back of his side's miserable current record.
Martinez's men in desperate need of a win
Levante midfielder Jose Barkero has admitted the sleepless nights are piling up on the back of his side's miserable current record.
After a sensational start to the Primera Division season - two draws followed by a run of seven successive victories - the wheels have come off Levante's campaign.
Coach Juan Ignacio Martinez's side have since lost 12 of 19 games in all competitions, and are notably without a win in their last seven.
In the league they have taken just three points from seven matches since their last win on December 10, a 1-0 victory over Seville.
Remarkably, Levante remain fourth in the table, yet such is the tight nature of the division below them they are only seven points off the relegation places.
The fear of the drop is of deep concern to Barkero who said: "We are in a very long slump.
"We need to think to win a game, but right now we cannot sleep and if this drags on for three or four more games it could lead to a situation we do not want.
"We have to follow up on our performance against Real Madrid when the team were very good."
Recovery
Levante took an early lead against Real, only to have Vicente Iborra sent off just before the break from which point they went on to lose 4-2.
Ahead of Sunday's game at home to Rayo Vallecano, Barkero admits only one thing now matters this season - survival.
"We are thinking only about collecting 43 points to stay in the Primera Division," added Barkero.
"In the second half of last season we played some good football, and hopefully we can do the same again."
As for Vallecano, they are currently on a rollercoaster of a run that began towards the end of November.
An initial trough of five straight defeats was followed by three wins, then a further two losses and most recently another two victories, beating bottom-of-the-table Zaragoza and local rivals Getafe.
Although sitting in a respectable 10th place in the table, coach Jose Ramon Sandoval's side are only three points above the bottom four.
To ease his players into the weekend and keep their minds off the potential struggle ahead, Sandoval took his players bowling on Friday.
Rayo were due to resume training behind closed doors on Saturday at their Estadio Teresa Rivero before making the journey to Valencia to take on Levante.
Best bet: Draw - 23/10
