MADRID - REIGNING Spanish champions Real Madrid can bounce back despite being 12 points adrift of leaders Barcelona after their weekend loss to the Catalan giants, Real's new coach Juande Ramos said on Monday.

'I am totally convinced that we can recover the 12 points,' Ramos said in an interview published in sports daily As two days after Real's 2-0 loss away to Barcelona, his first league match since taking over Real last week.

'We will not give up on anything. My formula is clear. We are going to win, win, win, without thinking about Barcelona,' he added.

The former Sevilla and Tottenham coach said Real would be more competitive in January when the club has new signing and key players return from injury.

'Clearly we want a right winger and a central midfielder. The club is working to find them and I hope they arrive soon. I want players of quality and desire who are ready to play,' he said.

'I have only been working here a week, but I can say that injuries have already had an effect on the backbone of the team,' he added.

Pepe, Gabriel Heinze, Mahamadou Diarra, Arjen Robben and Ruud van Nistelrooy are among the Real players who are currently sidelined.

Ramos started his term as coach at Real with a 3-0 win over Zenit St.

Petersburg in their final Champions League Group H game on Wednesday.

Spanish media however said on Monday that it would take a 'miracle' for Real to catch up to an in-form Barcelona who are eight points ahead of their nearest rivals, second-placed Valencia.

Real will face Valencia at home on Saturday in their last match before the winter break.

In preparation for the match Ramos has scheduled two daily training sessions - in the morning and the afternoon. His German predecessor Bernd Schuster had only held one training session per day this season.

Both Barcelona and Real have qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League and await the draw on Dec 19. -- AFP