'We're still in November' – Alonso remaining calm despite Madrid’s mini slump

Xabi Alonso believes it is too early in the season to make judgments after Real Madrid's 0-0 draw at Rayo Vallecano.

Alonso suffered his first European loss as Madrid boss against his old side Liverpool in midweek.

And Madrid did not respond well on Sunday, as they produced an average display against Rayo in LaLiga.

Madrid produced an xG of just 0.82, less than Vallecano's 1.19, and Alonso admitted that the display was not of the required standard.

"In the second half, the match got a bit out of control," the Spaniard said in his post-match press conference.

"As I said before, there was a lot of transition from Rayo and from us.

"We lacked the ability to create more chances in some of our attacks, and the second half was very chaotic.

"We know where we are, and I think that in good times and bad times, you have to know how to balance things out to get through it.

"The season is long, and as you said, the demands are high, but we live with that and prepare for it.

"This is Real Madrid, we all know where we are and what we want, and at this point in time, we're still in November, there’s a long way to go, so we have to be demanding of ourselves and also measured."

Alonso also rejected any notion that his side suffered from the impact of the defeat at Anfield, where Madrid were firmly second best even if they only lost 1-0.

He added: "Today was a game after the game at Anfield, which is now behind us.

"We wanted to play our game, and today it was also a bit difficult to get it where we wanted it to be. I don't attribute that to emotional peaks.

"We want to be very stable in our preparation and in our mentality, because we know that La Liga is a game-by-game competition, and today we couldn’t win."