Madrid, Jan 11 (Xinhua) Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho was pleased with the practical display that took Real Madrid into the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey.
Karim Benzema’s goal, which came thanks to a dreadful error from Malaga keeper Willy Caballero saw Mourinho’s men defend their 3-2 lead from the first leg of the tie and assure a 4-2 aggregate triumph.
It wasn’t Madrid’s best performance and Malaga caused them problems in the first half, but Mourinho was content with his side’s display.
‘We have scored eight goals in our two previous matches (vs Malaga and Granada), but we were accused of defending badly. Last night we were pragmatic and we looked for the result first and we defended well,’ Mourinho was quoted as saying by Xinhua.
‘We didn’t give our rivals a chance to score and although we were not brilliant with the ball, we achieved our aim, which was to get through the round against a side that played well against us in both games,’ said the Madrid coach, who admitted his relief at Benzema’s goal, which came midway through the second half.
‘If we had not scored a goal and the score had remained 0-0, Malaga would have pressured us more and taken more risks in the closing minutes. They were very intelligent and it has been a difficult tie that needed a huge effort to win,’ said Mourinho.
Real Madrid’s plans were complicated late in the first half when Sami Khedira left the pitch with an ankle injury. Mourinho was confident that he would be able to count on the German midfielder very soon.
‘It is not a serious injury, we are almost 100 percent that it is not serious,’ he confirmed.
Real Madrid now face Mallorca in the Primera Liga Saturday, while their Cup win sets up a quarterfinal clash against arch rivals FC Barcelona.
