Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho has said that he will be portrayed as "the bad guy" for suggesting that La Liga's scheduling has been harsh on his team.
Los Blancos lost more ground to Barcelona and local rivals Atletico Madrid at the top of La Liga by falling to a 1-0 defeat at Real Betis.
The Portuguese coach said that his team were tired from their midweek trip to face Manchester City, but also admitted that his team still should have been better.
"I try to be objective and fair when my team loses and try not to look for excuses," Football Espana quotes Mourinho as saying. "But it's obvious that a player who plays on Wednesday shouldn't play today.
"Other teams have more control over the schedule than we do. But we are talking about professionals and if you are more tired than normal you have to use other qualities like ambition, sacrifice and mental strength. When I see a sportsman like [Radek] Stepanek, who played three Davis Cup matches in three days, don't tell me that younger players can't play Wednesday and Sunday.
"I am the only one talking about the schedule, like after the match in Manchester I was the only one talking about the referee, therefore I am the bad guy in this story."
Real are third in the table, 11 points behind Barca.
