Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos has admitted that his team were far from their best in Saturday's 1-1 draw with Athletic Bilbao at San Mames.

Iker Muniain sent Bilbao ahead in the 32nd minute of the La Liga contest, before Isco netted in the second period as the two teams shared the spoils.

Ramos has said that Bilbao deserve credit for their own performance, but the Spaniard was unhappy with his team's intensity during periods of the league affair.

"We knew we'd be playing at one the most difficult fields, where the players press, but regardless of that they have a team who know their game very well, and we knew it was going to be a game with a lot of difficulty," Ramos told reporters.

"Perhaps we started the first half with a few more problems due to our lack of movement when receiving the ball. In the second half we were able to improve and got a goal back. We'd have liked to pick up all three points, but we'll keep improving.

"Drawing is never good. When you pick up one point instead of three, it means there are things to improve on. We lacked support. We should've moved the ball quicker to create space between the lines, but they retreated well, defended very close together and were very compact."

Madrid's defence of the European Cup begins with their first group game against Roma on Wednesday night.