Sunday 2 October 2016 21:39, UK
Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane accepts things must change after the club drew for the third straight game in La Liga but insisted there is no crisis at the club.
Los Blancos began the season with four wins from four but dropped points at home to Villarreal on September 21, when victory would have seen them pick up a league record 17th win in a row.
Three further draws have now followed in all competitions and Real looked a jaded and disjointed outfit in drawing 1-1 with Eibar at the Bernabeu with Gareth Bale cancelling out Fran Rico's sixth-minute header.
However, Zidane insisted it was no time to panic despite his side's poor run of form.
"This is not a crisis - this is just October, we mustn't go crazy about this," he told reporters at his post-match press conference.
"We did not play in the first half and our opponent did play well. The second half was much better, but this is something we are saying too often at the moment.
"We will analyse things again, and when they come back from the international break we must change. We can't go on like this."
Real lacked cohesion in midfield, with only Croatian midfielder Mateo Kovacic impressing as the team appeared to sorely miss his injured compatriot Luka Modric.
But Zidane was adamant that Modric's absence made no difference.
"I don't believe we lacked creativity," he said.
"It is not clever play we are missing, it is intensity. We don't win enough of the 50-50 balls."
Real looked shaky at the back as well as short of ideas up front, with Rico afforded far too much time as he headed home Eibar's goal.
Pedro Leon came up with a weak shot early in the second period when he was clean through and had plenty of time to set himself and shoot and Sergi Enrich headed over from an Ander Capa cross.
Cristiano Ronaldo still appears to be lacking sharpness, while Karim Benzema came off at half-time with a fresh injury problem.
Eibar coach Jose Luis Mendilibar told the Spanish media: "We have played this well in other games too and come back to earn draws. This is not a unique performance from us.
"It's the first time Eibar has scored and taken a point at the Bernabeu. It's a new experience for us, and one we deserved."
