Thursday 27 September 2018 08:12, UK
Julen Lopetegui conceded Sevilla deserved to win and were better than Real Madrid after his side suffered a 3-0 defeat in La Liga on Wednesday.
The hosts did all the damaged in the first half, with Andre Silva scoring twice before Wissam Ben Yedder added another in the 39th minute to seal Sevilla's victory.
Lopetegui made no qualms about the quality of Sevilla, admitting they were better than his Real Madrid side, and said they did not take their second-half chances.
Isco leaves hospital after surgery
"Our problem was that Sevilla were clearly better than us, particularly in the opening stages," he told a post-match press conference.
"They netted twice and were very clinical early on. We were second best in the first half and in the second we were more evenly matched but we missed a couple of big chances that killed any hopes we had. It was a poor performance on our part and Sevilla are deserved winners.
"The idea was to press high but it didn't come off like we'd hoped and we paid for it, particularly at the beginning. It'd be opportunistic to say we didn't prepare for the game adequately but it looks like that was the case.
"Neither the players nor the coach were at their best in the first half. If the goal early in the second half had stood, we would have had a chance."
The result has come at a bad time for Real Madrid, who face local rivals Atletico in the Madrid derby on Saturday evening, and Lopetegui is focused on preparing for the game.
"We need to prepare for the next game well. This kind of thing happens in La Liga and it will happen again, now we have to prepare for an important, challenging game at home in the next three days," he added.
"Tomorrow we will get up and prepare for the next game as best we can."
