Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo reckons his team can still win the Primera Division.
Madrid suffered a huge setback in their hopes of regaining the La Liga crown when they went down 2-0 to bitter rivals Barcelona at the Bernabeu on Saturday night.
Lionel Messi's 40th goal of the season and a second-half strike from Pedro were enough to secure the points for Barca, who now go above Madrid at the summit, three points clear.
Manuel Pellegrini's team had headed the division on goal difference going into the clash and the loss was made more damaging as their Catalonian counterparts now have the better head-to-head record.
Barca won the reverse fixture 1-0 at the Camp Nou and Madrid need their adversaries to drop points in at least two of their remaining matches.
Madrid are in danger of ending the campaign without silverware having being knocked out of the UEFA Champions League round of 16 by French side Lyon.
Ronaldo believes the title race is still wide open, though, and has pledged to battle to the end with seven games remaining.
"Barcelona were much better than us, but we need to lift our heads because there are seven games left," said the 25-year-old.
"If we win the league you cannot talk about failure. We need to believe it's possible. We're professionals and you cannot give up. We can win the league.
"It's never good to lose but we have to learn from the defeats. Sometimes we win and others we lose, but we'll see what happens at the end."
Defender Sergio Ramos added: "The team are going to continue fighting to the death and we have to lift ourselves because there is still a lot of the league left."
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