Dani Carvajal Admits Champions League Is Real's Only Chance of Silverware After Dismal Season

Real Madrid defender Dani Carvajal has admitted the club's only chance of potential silverware this season is now the Champions League.

Los Blancos suffered another embarrassing loss on Wednesday as Leganes beat them 2-1 at the Bernabeu to knock the giants out of the Copa del Rey.

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They join Sevilla and Valencia in the semi-finals, with Madrid left to lick their wounds ahead of their return to league action this weekend - with Barcelona looking to overcome a 1-0 first-leg deficit against Espanyol on Thursday night. 

Madrid face high-flying Valencia on Saturday, but even a victory is likely not to count for anything, with Barcelona miles ahead at the top of the table.

The Blaugrana are sitting pretty in first place, 11 points ahead of Atletico Madrid and a huge 19 ahead of Real, and full-back Carvajal sees no way back for Zinedine Zidane's struggling side.

He admitted, via Marca: "We have to be realistic, there's only the Champions League. The leaders [in the league] have a big points advantage, so the only competition still alive for us is the Champions League.

"We're gutted, it's a painful situation as we haven't even been able to draw with Leganes at home. They used their weapons and they took advantage of our mistakes to score twice.

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"We are in a difficult moment, it's the time to work harder than ever and be together. We will try to get back to winning ways in the only competition that we have."

It doesn't get any easier for Madrid, who take on the impressive Paris Saint-Germain on February 14 in the Champions League. The French side came through to the last 16 as group winners, winning five games and scoring 25 goals and Zidane has admitted his job could be on the line going into the game.