Real Madrid midfielder Xabi Alonso believes there is more to come from his side as they adapt to life under Jose Mourinho.
The capital club have made a solid start under their new Portuguese coach and are one of only two teams unbeaten in the Primera Division after five matches, along with leaders Valencia.
But they slipped to fourth spot in La Liga after being held to a goalless draw at lowly Levante last weekend, and Alonso accepts they are not the finished article yet.
The former Liverpool man told Spanish newspaper AS: "We still have room for improvement. The team is ambitious and wants to improve.
"The players are self-critical and the trainer is there to improve us.
"When we grasp the coach's ideas better the team will be more competitive.
"It is important to play well but it is more (important) to go little by little winning games."
Angel Di Maria hit a late winner at Auxerre on Tuesday as Mourinho's men jumped to the top of Champions League Group G.
Madrid welcome second-bottom Deportivo La Coruna to the Bernabeu on Sunday night in the final game of the weekend, by which time they will know how their rivals have fared.
Champions Barcelona, who sit a point and a position better off in third, kick off two hours earlier against Real Mallorca at the Nou Camp.
Pep Guardiola's side head into the encounter after a trip to Russia for Wednesday night's 1-1 Champions League draw with Rubin Kazan.
The Catalan giants will decide on the availability of midfielder Xavi on Friday, who has been left out of Vicente Del Bosque's Spain squad for next month's Euro 2012 qualifiers because of a tendon problem.
A statement on Barcelona's website confirmed: "For several weeks, the player has been suffering bilateral aquiline tendinopathy, which has reached an acute stage.
"The player, the manager Pep Guardiola, the FC Barcelona medical services and national manager Vicente Del Bosque have decided that the best decision would be for him not to play with the Spanish national team in the games against Lithuania and Scotland in order for him to remain in Barcelona and do recovery work.
"In consideration of the player's condition, we will decide whether Xavi will also miss the game against Mallorca on Sunday."
With second-placed Villarreal and fifth-spotted Atletico Madrid also not in action until Sunday, leaders Valencia could open up a four-point advantage at the summit if they overcome Athletic Bilbao at the Mestalla.
Los Che will be looking for a positive response after going down 1-0 at home to Manchester United in the Champions League on Wednesday night.
Also on Saturday, rock-bottom Real Zaragoza, still without a win this season, take on 17th-placed Sporting Gijon and Espanyol could climb provisionally into the top four with victory at Real Sociedad.
The bulk of the action is on Sunday with four Spanish teams in Europa League action on Thursday night.
Sevilla and Atletico Madrid go head to head at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan after both facing German opposition in Europe on Thursday evening.
The Andalusians faced Borussia Dortmund in Germany while Los Rojiblancos hosted Bayer Leverkusen.
Getafe, who played Young Boys in Switzerland on Thursday night, won 1-0 at Racing Santander last weekend to improve to 10th and remain level on points with this weekend's opponents, promoted Hercules, who continued their fine start to life in the top flight with a 2-0 home win over Sevilla last time out.
Villarreal tackled Club Brugge at El Madrigal on Thursday night and will then look to capitalise on any slip-up by Valencia when they take on Racing.
In other games on Sunday, Almeria face Malaga in a mid-table duel and Osasuna and Levante do battle in Pamplona, both seeking a second win of the Primera Division season.
