Borussia Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp has said that his side's 2-1 derby loss to Schalke eclipses the disappointment of trailing Bayern Munich.
Dortmund can practically bury hopes of retaining their title for a third time after going down in front of their own fans on Saturday, but Klopp tried to put things into perspective afterwards by saying his side should never have been expected to march to the title once again.
When asked how much it hurt to look at the standings, Klopp said: "Not at all, I'm not crazy.
"I can repeat it a thousand times, we would be stupid if we were to belittle what we have done over the past two years by having the feeling that we can leave a fantastic team like Bayern Munich miles in our wake.
"We had a bad game and I take the blame for that."
Klopp must now try to lift his troops for an attractive and important Champions League clash with Real Madrid on Wednesday night.
"Real Madrid is still going to be an amazing game, no matter what happened today," he said to Sky television.
"We did not deserve to win today, but you sometimes get away with a point. I wanted to help the team by changing tactics and, to be honest, it didn't work."
Schalke coach Huub Stevens had plenty to smile about after a win which gave his side a five-point cushion over their rivals and kept them seven adrift of Bayern.
"I am proud of the lads," he said. "We knew it would be a tense finish, but we fought bravely and even created chances ourselves.
"We have a young side who are still developing, but they have shown what they are capable of."
