Real Madrid coach Manuel Pellegrini has refused to blame Cristiano Ronaldo's absence for yesterday's defeat at Sevilla. The Spanish giants dropped their first points in a 2-1 defeat at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.

Real travelled to Seville without a host of players, including star man Ronaldo, but Pellegrini has insisted they should have been able to cope. "He is an important player," he said.

"But you build a team for when there are absentees. Two errors cost us the game and at the end we had the chance to equalise. Sevilla are going through a great time and they are the rightful winners."

However, Pellegrini did find fault with his team for the two goals they conceded. Headers from Jesus Navas and Renato, either side of Pepe's equaliser, handed Sevilla all three points.

"You can't go away happy when you lose," he added. "We were at fault for both goals.

"I believe the game was lost because of defensive errors. I'm worried that they got two headers against us from players that are a lot shorter."