Real Mallorca coach Javier Aguirre felt fatigue was a factor as they lost 1-0 at home to Real Madrid.
Aurelien Tchouameni struck in the second-half for the visitors.
Aguirre said: "We have lacked freshness, but also quality. To compete with a team that is ten points ahead of Barcelona, we have to have it and do things very well. We have lacked that little point of quality to take advantage of the two or three chances we had.
"Madrid always beats you in one way or another. We leave sad about the defeat because I don't like losing, especially at home. The locker room is screwed, but this is what we have."
On Tchouaméni's goal, he said: "We have to come out faster. The two pivots got stuck in the area a lot and the ones at the back came out late. Unfortunately for us, they hit one of ours, but they could have scored on another occasion, because they had the chance.
"They were better overall, it is very difficult to beat Madrid. They are ten points behind second and everything is said with that fact."
