REAL Madrid coach Juande Ramos refused to get too carried away despite seeing his side take another significant chunk out of Barcelona's lead at the Primera Liga summit.
Madrid hammered Real Betis 6-1 last night while at the same time Barca were slumping to a 2-1 home defeat to local rivals Espanyol - a pair of results that has breathed fresh life back into the title race with Ramos' troops now just seven points adrift, having been 12 behind just over a week ago.
Ramos, whose side have now won nine successive games - matching the third best run in the club's history - took it all in his stride though, saying: "At this time we've cut the distance by three points, but there is still a distance.
"We are getting closer, but I've never said that the league was already over.
"There is a lot of the competition left and many points available. This team went through a little slump in the first half of the season, but in my opinion every team has a little slump, and you have to be ready to take advantage of that."
Madrid were in devastating form against Betis, scoring all six of their goals in the first half en route to a comfortable victory.
However, Ramos preferred to credit his side rather than criticise Betis, who in their previous two games had beaten neighbours Sevilla away for the first time in 13 years and drawn 2-2 at home to Barcelona.
"You can say that Betis haven't done anything, but don't forget that this team came here in a great moment after beating Sevilla and drawing against Barca," added Ramos.
Klaas Jan Huntelaar netted a brace for Madrid to build on his strike against Sporting Gijon last weekend, which was his first the club following his big-money move from Ajax over the winter.
The Dutchman was thrilled to be back on the scoresheet, but insists his main pleasure comes from helping Madrid pick up three points.
"I'm very happy to have scored two more goals in this shirt. I've already got three, but the most important thing is that I continue scoring to help the team pick up wins," he said on his club's website.
"We played a very good game, above all in the first half. The whole team played well.
"Of course it's very nice to score goals, but what I hope now is that it doesn't stop here and I continue scoring."
Ramos, whose side have now won nine successive games - matching the third best run in the club's history - took it all in his stride though, saying: "At this time we've cut the distance by three points, but there is still a distance.
"We are getting closer, but I've never said that the league was already over.
"There is a lot of the competition left and many points available. This team went through a little slump in the first half of the season, but in my opinion every team has a little slump, and you have to be ready to take advantage of that."
Madrid were in devastating form against Betis, scoring all six of their goals in the first half en route to a comfortable victory.
However, Ramos preferred to credit his side rather than criticise Betis, who in their previous two games had beaten neighbours Sevilla away for the first time in 13 years and drawn 2-2 at home to Barcelona.
"You can say that Betis haven't done anything, but don't forget that this team came here in a great moment after beating Sevilla and drawing against Barca," added Ramos.
Klaas Jan Huntelaar netted a brace for Madrid to build on his strike against Sporting Gijon last weekend, which was his first the club following his big-money move from Ajax over the winter.
The Dutchman was thrilled to be back on the scoresheet, but insists his main pleasure comes from helping Madrid pick up three points.
"I'm very happy to have scored two more goals in this shirt. I've already got three, but the most important thing is that I continue scoring to help the team pick up wins," he said on his club's website.
"We played a very good game, above all in the first half. The whole team played well.
"Of course it's very nice to score goals, but what I hope now is that it doesn't stop here and I continue scoring."
Copyright (c) Press Association
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