Zinedine Zidane says his side let ‘their guards down” after their first goal in the 4-1 defeat at Valencia on Sunday night.

Los Blancos conceded three penalties and an own goal after Karim Benzema had given the away side the game opener in the 23-minute at the Mestalla.

“After the goal, we let our guard down a bit and changed what we were doing," Zidane said at full time.

"Everything happened to us, to be fair. It's difficult to understand our game. "I don't think Valencia were better than us tactically. But I'm the one responsible because I have to find solutions.

"There are no excuses. After the first goal, we dropped our guard. Everything piled up today. It's true that we weren't how we were before at the back."

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Carlos Soler scored a treble of penalties to become the first player in the 21 Century to convert such in a single La Liga game when the Madrid defence exhibited weakness at their backline and failed to contain the encouraging attack of the home team.

"Three penalties, an own goal, it's too much," added Zidane.

"The fault is mine because I am the coach and I have to find the solution. I can't justify what happened. It's a bad day, there are no excuses. We must improve defensively.

"I don't think Valencia have been tactically better than us. The only thing is that we started well and everything changed after the goal. 

"This is difficult to understand. But yes, the maximum responsibility is mine. We must find solutions after the goal they scored."

???????????? @RealSociedadEN lead the table, with @Eng_Villarreal and @atletienglish (2 games in hand) making up the podium...#LiveStandings #LaLigaSantander pic.twitter.com/Y1NXROS8fN

— LaLiga English (@LaLigaEN) November 8, 2020

Madrid are fourth, four points behind leaders Real Sociedad.