Sevilla coach Jorge Sampaoli admits it is going to be difficult for his side to keep pace with Barcelona and Real Madrid in the La Liga title race.
The Andalusian club saw their five-match winning run in all competitions come to a halt on Monday when they were held to a 1-1 draw at Alaves, a result that dropped third-place Sevilla four points adrift of leaders Barca and three behind Real, who have a game in hand.
Sampaoli told his club's website: "It's complicated to follow the rhythm of the top two teams in the standings. My players gave their lives out there to win but so did our opponents. I cannot criticise my players for their effort.
"But we need to continue to fight in order to remain in the top positions."
Sevilla's only La Liga title dates back to the 1945-46 campaign and the closest they have come to finishing first since were third-place finishes in the 2006-07 campaign under coach Juande Ramos and then in 2008-09 under his successor, Manolo Jimenez.
For a second straight game on Monday, Sevilla failed to score more than one goal and had just one of their nine attempts on target -- Wissam Ben Yedder's strike that beat Alaves goalkeeper Fernando Pacheco to put his side ahead in the 23rd minute.
Alaves drew level with substitute Aleksandar Katai's 75th goal. Asked about his team's drop in form after the re-start, Sampaoli, who took on his first experience coaching in Europe last summer when he replaced Unai Emery at Sevilla, said: "We always go out to win and one never thinks it's going to be easy.
"We didn't create the opportunities that we had in the opening half and we were a bit static in attack.
"We are in the same physical form as the teams that are competing in two competitions."
Sevilla, one of four Spanish teams still alive in the Champions League, play at Leicester in the round-of-16 second leg on March 14, holding a 2-1 advantage from the first leg.