Real Madrid boss Julen Lopetegui admitted his players had looked tired during a 1-0 win over Espanyol which sent them top of LaLiga.
Marco Asensio scored the only goal four minutes before half-time, but Los Blancos' performance levels dropped after their midweek Champions League win against Roma.
"They are three important points from a complex and difficult match," Lopetegui was quoted in Marca.
"We lacked energy in the second half and lost control. There was fatigue because we played two demanding games in three days."
Real spurned numerous other chances but struggled for fluency against dogged opponents, who struck the frame of the goal through Borja Iglesias in the second half.
"Espanyol played well and were organised, and we knew it would be difficult," said Lopetegui, who remains unbeaten in LaLiga since replacing Zinedine Zidane in the summer. "We made the Asensio goal profitable."
___________
Read more
Mariano: Following Raul and Ronaldo and being Real Madrid's No 7 is 'enormous responsibility'
Real Madrid, not Manchester City, are favourites to win Uefa Champions League, insists Mikel Arteta
Ian Hawkey Changing times for both Ronaldo and Real Madrid in the Uefa Champions League
___________
The former Porto and Spain head coach rested Gareth Bale, Dani Carvajal, Marcelo and Toni Kroos, with Alvaro Odriozola, Nacho and Dani Ceballos starting, while Thibaut Courtois replaced Keylor Navas in goal.
"The emergence of new players is positive, they have all played a full game, though Nacho's (yellow) card has affected him a lot," said Lopetegui.
Real's £37.2million Brazilian summer signing Vinicius Junior was left out of the squad.
"We had to assess how everyone was doing and finally Valverde came in (instead of Vinicius)," Lopetegui added. "We'll see if he plays with (the second team) Castilla on Sunday."
Espanyol coach Rubi said he was pleased with his side's display, but was disappointed they left the Bernabeu without a point.
"It has merit to have caused Real Madrid problems. We bothered them and I think we have done a good job," Rubi said.
"We made it difficult for them to find spaces. It is very difficult to come here and make Real Madrid look uneasy.
"We have done a good job closing spaces, although in the first half they made us run a lot because we could not get the ball as much as we wanted."
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
Brief scoreline:
Wales 1
James 5'
Slovakia 0
Man of the Match: Dan James (Wales)
Know your Camel lingo
The bairaq is a competition for the best herd of 50 camels, named for the banner its winner takes home
Namoos - a word of congratulations reserved for falconry competitions, camel races and camel pageants. It best translates as 'the pride of victory' - and for competitors, it is priceless
Asayel camels - sleek, short-haired hound-like racers
Majahim - chocolate-brown camels that can grow to weigh two tonnes. They were only valued for milk until camel pageantry took off in the 1990s
Millions Street - the thoroughfare where camels are led and where white 4x4s throng throughout the festival
At a glance - Zayed Sustainability Prize 2020
Launched: 2008
Categories: Health, energy, water, food, global high schools
Prize: Dh2.2 million (Dh360,000 for global high schools category)
Winners’ announcement: Monday, January 13
Impact in numbers
335 million people positively impacted by projects
430,000 jobs created
10 million people given access to clean and affordable drinking water
50 million homes powered by renewable energy
6.5 billion litres of water saved
26 million school children given solar lighting
match details
Wales v Hungary
Cardiff City Stadium, kick-off 11.45pm
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Tightening the screw on rogue recruiters
The UAE overhauled the procedure to recruit housemaids and domestic workers with a law in 2017 to protect low-income labour from being exploited.
Only recruitment companies authorised by the government are permitted as part of Tadbeer, a network of labour ministry-regulated centres.
A contract must be drawn up for domestic workers, the wages and job offer clearly stating the nature of work.
The contract stating the wages, work entailed and accommodation must be sent to the employee in their home country before they depart for the UAE.
The contract will be signed by the employer and employee when the domestic worker arrives in the UAE.
Only recruitment agencies registered with the ministry can undertake recruitment and employment applications for domestic workers.
Penalties for illegal recruitment in the UAE include fines of up to Dh100,000 and imprisonment
But agents not authorised by the government sidestep the law by illegally getting women into the country on visit visas.
