Real Madrid coach Bernd Schuster knows his side can ill afford a second successive setback in front of their own fans as they welcome Sevilla to the Bernabeu on Sunday.
Madrid were seven points clear at the summit heading into last weekend's matches, but a shock 3-2 home defeat to Valencia saw that advantage reduced to four points by second-placed Barcelona.
And that gap could be down to one point by the time Schuster's men take the field against Sevilla if Barcelona beat Real Betis on Saturday night on what could prove a key weekend in the race for the Primera Liga title.
Like Valencia, Sevilla have struggled for consistency this season but Schuster is under no illusions just what a threat the Andalusian side can pose.
"They are a dangerous team that can score at any time and this will be an important game after our match against Valencia," said Schuster.
"Both sides seem similar, but Sevilla are better than Valencia this season. We can't allow the three points to escape from us.
"We've talked about the (Valencia) game and analysed it, and we did a lot of good things, such as controlling the match throughout. But we also made some mistakes that cost us the game. We expect the game with Sevilla to be very similar."
Madrid suffered a blow in the build-up to Sunday's match when centre-back Pepe was ruled out through injury, and he joins Ruud van Nistelrooy and Christoph Metzelder in the treatment room.
Pepe's loss means Gabriel Heinze is set to join Fabio Cannavaro in the centre of the Madrid defence, with Schuster confirming that Sergio Ramos will not return to his old position at the heart of the back four.
"Ramos will continue to play as a right-back on Sunday. I think he is important there, as he has proven for both for us and for Spain," said Schuster, who has also left Roberto Soldado, Michel Salgado, Javier Balboa and Jordi Codina out of his squad to face Sevilla.
However the Madrid defence line-up they are likely to be in for a busy night's work as they look to contain one of the most attacking sides in Europe, led by La Liga's leading scorer Luis Fabiano who has netted 22 times already this season.
The Brazil international has been tipped to move away from Sevilla this summer, and Madrid have been one of the clubs closely linked with the in-form hitman.
Commenting on those reports, Luis Fabiano was quoted as saying in the Spanish media on Saturday: "It would be important to be able to play for a club such as Real Madrid. But I am calm, and we are going to wait until the end of the season (to see what happens).
"I am 28 and I have contract until 2008 with Sevilla."
Sevilla missed a great chance to move into the Champions League places last weekend, but they slumped to a 2-1 home defeat against fourth-placed Atletico Madrid.
Manolo Jimenez's side are now in sixth spot, but striker Frederic Kanoute believes they can get their European hopes back on track at the Bernabeu.
"Real Madrid haven't been consistent of late and we can take advantage of that," he said.
Ivica Dragutinovic is sidelined after undergoing an operation, while Enzo Maresca serves the first game of a four-match suspension following his red card for head-butting Sergio Aguero last weekend.
