Jose Antonio Reyes bemoaned Atletico Madrid's defensive errors and the referee after yet another derby defeat at the hands of Real.
Atletico went into last night's match at the Bernabeu having not beaten their bitter rivals in over a decade and having lost 11 of their previous 17 encounters.
And it was to be another night of disappointment as early goals from Ricardo Carvalho and Mesut Ozil earned Real a 2-0 victory.
Former Real winger Reyes felt things could have been different though, especially if the referee had not waved play on in the 29th minute after Sergio Aguero's attempted hook into the middle struck Xabi Alonso's hand inside the area.
Reyes said: "Their goals arrived from our mistakes. The first goal was a blow, but the second knocked us for six.
"It was hard for us to recover, but little by little we got back into the match and we had chances to get a goal.
"Then came the penalty against Xabi Alonso due to a clear handball. It could have been a penalty and a red card. The match would've been very different."
The defeat, which was Atletico's fourth of the season, left Quique Sanchez Flores' men in seventh place in the standings and already a massive 12 points behind pacesetters Real.
That would suggest a title challenge is already beyond Atletico with just 10 rounds gone, but Reyes admits their main target for this season is a top-four finish in any case.
"Our objective is not the league, it's getting in the Champions League. We must try and lift our heads as soon as possible and pick up as many points as we can to be up there at the top," he said on his club's website.
