Real Madrid gave under-fire coach Bernd Schuster a vote of confidence on Monday following a turbulent week that left the Spanish champion five points behind leader Barcelona and out of the Copa del Rey.

Real sports director Predrag Mijatovic said president Ramon Calderon and the board of directors had "full confidence in our players, our coaching staff" after recent Spanish reports said Schuster could be fired after a 0-1 loss at Valladolid.

The German coach is under pressure after back-to-back losses to Juventus in the Champions League and an embarrassing fourth-round loss to Real Union in the domestic cup competition, which it hasn't won since 1993.

"Sure, after losing at home in that kind of game, that can lead you to want to make a change of ideas going forward, but we have trust in our coach," Mijatovic said.

"He's a coach who has achieved a lot and brought great results to Madrid, so we can't be upset with him. And we can't start confusing these ultimate results with a decision that could be a mistake."

Real has a history of shuffling coaches after a short spell, with Schuster replacing Fabio Capello after the Italian coach led Real to the league trophy in 2007.

Schuster, the club's eighth coach in nine years, defended that trophy easily last season as Barcelona stumbled and Villarreal started slowly. This season, Barcelona and Villarreal are at the top of the table.

"Real has one of the best teams in Europe, that's my opinion," Mijatovic said. "And this team has the ability to react. This team can finish this season by winning the title. We've always had faith that this team can come through."

Real's poor form has been coupled by the loss of Ruud van Nistelrooy, who could miss the rest of the season following knee surgery. Madrid has been without several regulars over the past week, mostly to injury.

Mijatovic said the club would look to make up to two transfer signings to replenish the club's ailing roster, with a striker the priority.

"We'll try to strengthen the team in that position, from midfield up. Now we're working on different opportunities. We are going to do all we can to sign one or two players that will help us moving forward."

In the offseason, Madrid failed to sign Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo or Valencia forward David Villa, and lost Brazil forward Robinho to Manchester City in August.

"We had a lot of motivation to sign Cristiano Ronaldo...but Manchester never wanted to get rid of the player. We tried and in the end it couldn't be," Mijatovic said. "We tried to sign other players and for the same reasons it couldn't be because these are big teams who don't want to let go of their important players."

He also pleaded with the club's fans to stay behind Schuster and the squad at this weekend's league match against Recreativo Huelva.

(Agencies via Shanghai Daily November 19, 2008)