Alvaro Arbeloa says Real Madrid could easily have beaten Barcelona in the second leg of their Copa del Rey quarter-final on Wednesday.
Cup holders Real trailed 2-1 from the first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu, and were unable to defeat the league champions in the return, which ended in a 2-2 draw at Camp Nou.
Barca were on the back foot late on in the second leg, and Arbeloa feels things could have gone Real's way with a bit more luck.
"We're happy with our performance," he told the club's website.
"We didn't win because we weren't lucky with our chances."
"We could have easily won because we were better. We played better and had more chances to score than Barcelona."
"We've managed to get rid of our psychological anxiety and fear to lose against Barcelona."
"It's hard to be strengthened after being eliminated, but we realise we can defeat them and we're looking forward to our next meeting."
Arbeloa also criticised the performance of referee Fernando Teixeira Vitienes.
"We would like referees to be fairer," he said.
"The ref hurt us in small details. Some fouls and bookings we saw hurt us, and you can't end the match when a foul has been made in midfield."
Real return to La Liga action on Saturday, when they host Real Zaragoza at the Santiago Bernabeu.