Casemiro: 'The Tie Isn't Over' After Real Madrid's 2-1 Loss to Manchester City

Casemiro believes if any team can come back from a 2-1 defeat against Manchester City, it is Real Madrid.

Los Blancos were beaten late in the UEFA Champions League against the Sky Blues on Wednesday at the Santiago Bernabeu. 

They were leading the first leg of their last-16 tie 1-0 after Isco's goal on the hour, but then Gabriel Jesus and Kevin De Bruyne scored in the last 12 minutes to put the Sky Blues in the driving seat to advance to the quarter-finals:

Real must go to the Etihad Stadium for the return leg on March 17 and win well if they are to keep their dream alive of taking a fifth Champions League title in seven seasons.

Casemiro was bullish after Wednesday's game about Real's ability to get the right result in Manchester, per Marca:

"The tie isn't over. If there's a team that can come back, it's Real Madrid. We had a fantastic first 75 minutes, and we didn't do what we had to do for 15 minutes and they came back. This isn't over, but there's lots of work to do."

Real's schedule is unrelenting. They host Barcelona in the second El Clasico of the season on Sunday in a potentially defining fixture in La Liga's title race:

Casemiro added that Los Blancos must focus on the Blaugrana before a "very difficult" visit to England.

City have a potential advantage over Real in that they have no title race to focus on.

It is not what Pep Guardiola and his side would have wanted before the start of the season, but the Champions League has become their main focus as they are 22 points behind leaders Liverpool in the Premier League table.

As such, Guardiola may well decide to rotate his squad to ensure his key players are in peak condition for the visit of Real and any potential further rounds of Europe's premier club competition.

Real manager Zinedine Zidane will not have that luxury. He will not only need to put his best side out for Sunday's match against Barcelona but also for the subsequent league fixtures against Real Betis and Eibar that take place before the second leg.