It was impossible for Real Madrid to beat Villareal defence

Pepe has conceded that Real Madrid ran out of ideas in Sunday's 1-1 draw with Villarreal at the Santiago Bernabeu, admitting that they found it "practically impossible" to play their way through the visitors' defence.

The Liga leaders looked strangely out of sorts during a turgid opening half in the Spanish capital and only broke the deadlock thanks to a penalty from Cristiano Ronaldo just after the break.

Villarreal levelled matters in the 64th minute courtesy of Gerard Moreno's snap-shot from the edge of the area and, despite their best efforts, Madrid were unable to force a winner during a frantic finale.

Pepe was thus the first to admit that the Yellow Submarine had done an excellent job in denying Los Blancos space and nullifying the threat posed by Ronaldo and his accomplices.

"We wanted to win but Villarreal fought a lot and they ran themselves into the ground," the defender told reporters after the game.

"We put in a lot of crosses and they had two lines of four, so it was practically impossible to get through in the middle.

"We conceded a goal on a counterattack but that's football. We fought and we came up against a very good team; we have to keep fighting.
"We're still top and we have to keep working until the end of the season."

The draw means that Madrid are just two points clear of second-placed Barcelona ahead of Wednesday's Liga trip to Athletic Bilbao.