Real Madrid wing-back Marcelo admitted frustration after their draw with Villarreal.
Real are now two points ahead of Barcelona at the top of the table.
"We tried all we could, we fought and covered a lot of ground," said Marcelo.
"We had a number of chances but the ball wouldn't go in. We are upset about this result. We are still top of the league but a win would have been an important step forwards. We didn't play as we are used to playing, although the reason we failed to win is because the ball wouldn't go in the net. We gave it our all right until the end."