Real Madrid coach Bernd Schuster refuses to accept his runaway leaders are home and dry in the Primera Liga championship race.Sunday's impressive 2-0 win at fifth-placed Racing Santander means Madrid now boast a 10-point cushion over second-placed Villarreal and a further one-point lead over arch rivals Barcelona, who are third.

With only five games remaining, Madrid know now that if they beat Athletic Bilbao at home next weekend and other results go their way, they will be celebrating a second successive Spanish title.

However, until that is confirmed, Schuster insists the champagne must stay on ice.

"Until it is mathematically sure we need to continue fighting. We knew that we could take an important step forward and move closer to the title with a victory here," said Schuster, whose side took the points against Racing thanks to goals from Raul and Gonzalo Higuain.

"The players are very happy with the game they played. It was a good game. We played a good game against a very brave opponent who played a lot of football and doesn't just wait to make the most of your errors."

With the title still not quite assured, Schuster would not be drawn into a summary of his first season in charge at the Bernabeu.

"We still need to play, and because of this I don't want to judge the season," he said.

"We have had a new team with a new coach and we are doing our work. Nobody has given us anything - we have worked for it.

"There are things to improve on for the coming year, but we have dome some very important things with regards to the team."

Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas added on his club's website: "You can't sound the victory bells just yet, although we're only a small step away.

"We have everything going for us, but we can't count our chickens before they hatch. We'll wait to see what happens with our upcoming matches because we still face opponents who have a lot to play for.

"We've been on top from the very start and I think we deserve to win the title again."

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