Madrid, having picked up two wins and a draw in their opening three pre-season friendlies, slumped to their first loss after going down 2-1 to Juventus in Seville last night.

That meant Madrid missed out on a place in Sunday`s final against Aston Villa, but Raul is keen to point out that it is still early days for the new-look squad after its major summer overhaul and it will take time for everything to fall into place.

"There needs to be calm. We are still absorbing some concepts and some new ideas. It`s a long process, but we are on the right track. There have been noticeable improvements in every game," said the long-serving striker in AS.

"There`s no doubt that it will be a great year for Madrid."

One of the people who played a key part in inflicting a first defeat on Madrid was former Bernabeu favourite Fabio Cannavaro.

The Italian World Cup-winning captain, who returned to Juve this summer after three years at Madrid, opened the scoring against his old club after just three minutes when he glanced home Alessandro Del Piero`s free-kick.

But while Madrid may be someway short of fulfilling their huge potential at this point of pre-season, Cannavaro still saw plenty for his old club to be pleased about.

"My ex-team-mates looked quite good to me. They have high-quality players and form a very strong and dangerous team, but bear in mind they are still in pre-season. In September we will see the true Real Madrid," he said.