Sergio Ramos Slams Real Madrid's 'F--king Bad Start' to 2017-18 Season

Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos condemned Los Blancos' "f--king bad start" to the new season in the wake of Wednesday's 1-0 home defeat to Real Betis in La Liga.

Having won twice, drawn twice and now lost once in the Spanish top flight in 2017-18, Real are already seven points back from table-topping Barcelona, and Ramos, 31, did not mince his words when assessing the situation, per MailOnline's Jonathan Spencer:

"It's a f--king bad start. It's concerning and alarming, as [this bad start at home] has included games against opponents that we would normally beat at the Bernabeu. But we must move on, be self-critical and think about the next games. We are the same players who were winning titles a month ago. 

"We have to be united and think of ourselves, but there is a great team here and there are no excuses. I don't know why it's so hard for us to score at the Bernabeu. The minutes passed but the goal did not come and it was difficult. We created the chances, but we just missed the goal."

Zinedine Zidane's champions have yet to win at the Santiago Bernabeu in the league this term, drawing with Valencia and Levante before the shock defeat to Betis—which also brought an end to Real's incredible goalscoring record, per Opta:

In the corresponding fixtures last season, Real beat both Betis and Valencia 2-1.

Levante weren't even in La Liga last term, but in the preceding six seasons they were in the Spanish top flight, Real beat them six times by an aggregate score of 19-3. 

Real were tipped by many ahead of the start of the new season to win a second consecutive Liga title—Andy Hall in AS predicted they would "walk it."

Barca looked to have a weak squad compared to Real's, but the Blaugrana have a perfect record after five league games.

However, Real are by no means out the running given there are still 33 matches left in the season.

Further down the line, Barcelona's lack of depth may be exposed, and Real could then have the chance to make up the deficit.

Zidane's side must find their winning form at home, though, as they cannot afford any more slip-ups against smaller sides at the Bernabeu.