Real Madrid's Iker Casillas: 'We have hit rock bottom'

Iker Casillas recognizes the situation. He isn't sugarcoating it.

The Real Madrid goalkeeper admitted his club is struggling more profoundly than they have at any point this season following their horrid - yet wildly entertaining - 4-3 loss to Schalke on Tuesday, which nearly saw them eliminated from the Champions League.

The players, despite advancing to the quarterfinal stage with a 5-4 aggregate win, were jeered off the pitch by an unimpressed Santiago Bernabeu crowd. Casillas understands their frustration.

"It is true that we have hit rock bottom in a most resounding way, but the positive is that Friday next week we are in the draw and we will forget what has happened these 10 days," Casillas told reporters after the match. "Because we have lived through 10 dramatic days."

The reigning European champions are winless in three matches, and have seen Barcelona overtake them for top spot in La Liga - a situation they will look to rectify this weekend when they host Levante.

Casillas himself will look to put in a strong performance following Tuesday's debacle, in which he was directly at fault for at least one Schalke goal (and perhaps two). It was a showing indicative of the Spaniard's continued fall from his perch as arguably the greatest goalkeeper in the world - a descent that has lasted for some time now.

"I believe that a goalkeeper is always to blame," Casillas said when asked of his errors. "These have not been my best games, but it is not the moment to think about one's self. Despite not doing our work well, we have been able to get through.

"We must be united and understand the criticism and the Madrid fans, because we were not up to the level of this club, and the Champions League last 16. We are in a privileged place, and now we must just think about tomorrow. We cannot look back, nor recall the 22 wins, nor any of the other things we have achieved."