Real Madrid lost ground to rivals Barcelona at the top of LaLiga after being held to a goalless draw by Athletic Club at the Bernabeu on Sunday.

Following Wednesday's goalless draw in El Clasico, Barcelona returned to winning ways on Saturday with a 4-1 rout of Alaves, allowing the Catalans to widen the gap over Los Blancos at the league summit to two points.

Despite hitting the woodwork three times, Madrid were not able to find a breakthrough against a stubborn Athletic side.

It is the first time since 2006 that Madrid have recorded back-to-back 0-0 draws in the league, but Zinedine Zidane insisted the dry spell in front of goal is just a phase.

"It's only a moment, it's only been two games that we didn't score," he said following Sunday's game.

"Soccer is like that. And when we get back to work, when we start winning again, we are going to overcome this issue, with calm."

Asked whether Madrid's struggles in front of goal had anything to do with the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo, Zidane responded: "No. All we have to do is keep doing what we are doing now."