Jose Mourinho says nothing less than a third straight victory will do for his Real Madrid side, as they prepare for the visit of Deportivo La Coruna on Sunday.
The reigning Liga champions have endured an underwhelming start to the campaign and already trail arch-rivals Barcelona by eight points.
But despite recording back to back victories in their last two games, Mourinho is still wary of the threat posed by Sunday’s visitors and says he will not be interested in the outcome of matches elsewhere in the division over the weekend.
“We need to win three consecutive matches for the first time in the season,” he stated in his pre-match press conference.
“We’re playing at home. Deportivo is a great team which plays well, with ambitious people who know what they want to do and we have to play with the pressure of knowing we are the favourites.
“We have to begin well and not think about other matches and if the players come out really strong, I’m sure that it’ll be easier to get the three points.”
The Portuguese coach then called on his side to refind their character of old and rued a series of individual errors for the points they have dropped so far.
“We can’t afford to give away any more points,” Mourinho added.
“I haven’t said that we can’t afford to lose more points. If your opponent is stronger than you, if they play well, if you are unlucky, if your striker misses five opportunities to get the ball in, if your goalkeeper falters at a key moment, matches and points can be lost.
“After playing as seriously as we played against [Manchester] City and Rayo [Vallecano], we hope that we see this seriousness and commitment again which enabled us to do what we did last season.”
Mourinho then responded humorously to a question on whether a midfield trio of Xabi Alonso, Luka Modric and Mesut Ozil could operate alongside one another.
“If you want, give me the other eight. You select them and tell me,” he continued.
“You have done midfield and if you want, give me the defence and attack. If you want you can all make the team, tell me, and I’ll tell you if I accept the idea or not.
“In the next press conference, you can come and give me the players you have selected.”