Real Madrid coach Rafa Benitez said his team needed to show more accuracy and calmness in front of goal after they slipped off the top of La Liga following Saturday's 0-0 draw against Malaga.
Madrid had 30 shots on goal over the 90 minutes -- including 14 from Cristiano Ronaldo -- but Los Blancos failed to score for the first time in 56 outings at the Bernabeu.
The result means that Madrid dropped from top spot in the Liga standings with Barcelona provisionally going top after they won 2-1 at home to Las Palmas -- a game in which the Catalan side's talisman Lionel Messi suffered a knee injury that is set to see him miss two months of action.
Even though Malaga played the last 20 minutes with 10 men after attacker Nordin Amrabat had been sent off for an elbow on Marcelo, Madrid could not find a way through.
The Madrid coach said in his postgame news conference that he had picked an attacking team, but his players had not taken the opportunities that had been created.
"Football, at the end, has these types of things," Benitez said. "We dominated for most of the game, made many chances, but if you don't take them, at the end you draw 0-0.
"We made enough chances to score, and take the three points. To create clearer chances against a team pushed back is not so easy. We had a three-man midfield today, a more offensive team, and made clear chances."
Madrid's top forward Ronaldo had another frustrating afternoon with 12 of his 14 efforts at goal being off target, and the Portuguese being booked after attempting to knock a cross into the net with his hand in the last attack of the game.
Benitez said his team had not shown the composure and calmness required during the closing stages of the game.
"For most of the game we were doing well, making chances," he said. "Maybe in the last five minutes we needed to keep calm, keep doing what we had been doing, moving the ball calmly -- it is not easy.
"We must try and manage the last few minutes better, so you can make those one or two clear chances with which to change the result of the game. But I insist we are at the start of season -- to create so many chances is something positive."
Isco did squeeze a shot past Malaga goalkeeper Carlos Kameni, only for defender Weligton to clear the ball as it was crossing the line.
La Liga is the only one of Europe's top leagues not to have goal-line technology -- a situation which Benitez lamented.
"I did not see [that incident], did not see all the replays," he said. "But generally -- goal technology is used in some other places, and could always be useful."
Asked what Messi's injury might mean for the title race, Benitez said he was only concerned about his own team after Jese was stretchered out of the game to join an injury list already including regular starters Gareth Bale, Sergio Ramos, James Rodriguez, Danilo and Pepe.
"I do not comment on [Messi injury], he is not our player," he added. "I am only worried to see how Jese is after today's game, we think he just had some cramps. And about recovering the four or five players we have out ourselves."
Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas admitted his side were frustrated not to have taken all three points against Malaga, telling Canal Plus: "We are angry because we could have won this game and we didn't.
"It's difficult to explain how you don't win these types of games but we will try and look at what we messed up when we are calmer.
"We are aware that we shouldn't be dropping any points at all but we must go on, it's a long season and we will try not to drop any more points and get closer to our objective."
Information from the Press Association was used in this report.