Real Madrid

Aitor Karanka appeared before the media at the end of the Spanish Cup match against Celta. The Whites’ assistant coach appeared to be satisfied with his team’s qualification for the next round of the Cup and praised the performance of Cristiano Ronaldo, scorer of the first three goals: “His goals and performance are there for all to see, and his performance the other day. What we have seen is more than enough to assess it. There are never any doubts about Cristiano. Recently when he has not been scoring as normal, the team has felt it. Now that he’s back scoring, and the number of goals he’s scoring and the confidence it gives him, it’s important for the rest of the team”.

Aitor Karanka praised the work of Modric, who featured in the starting XI against Celta: “It’s obvious that Luka has suffered due to not being here during pre-season with all the other players and that the team was not playing well. When these things happen the player doesn’t find his place in the team or have any confidence, but we didn’t and we do not doubt the type of performance he can give. That’s why we signed him and know that we’re coming to the final stage we know the type of player he is”. The coach also explained Alonso’s situation at half time: “He took a knock to the neck and he stayed in the dressing room. He was in quite a bit of pain and let’s see how it develops”.

When asked whether the fans were divided, he was clear: “The manager said it, the fans do what they believe. He is in charge of working and getting the best for Real Madrid. Being with him you are aware of what he does. And if the fans whistle it’s because they are not happy. We are here to work and that’s the way we’ve done it for the last two and a half years”.

When asked about Mourinho and his absence at the FIFA award ceremony, he stated: “He hasn't been caught out, he said he had to work and that’s what he did. Later he went to see his son and in this life there is nothing more beautiful than being with your son after completing your obligations and he had completed them. Today we have seen that the team won its match and the manner in which they have won. We were perfectly aware of how Celta played and the work of manager is there for all to see”. When asked about the absence of a few members of the technical team in the press conference prior to the match against Celta, he assured: “A few days ago you applauded the club’s policy of the players coming out to talk and we though that one player was enough to give explanations”.

Karanka explained Casillas starting in goal: “It is something that we have talked about since we’ve come back from holidays. Casillas has made good saves, Cristiano has scored three goals and that’s what we ask of our players, that they are at the highest level. We work to pick the 11 that will give the best performance”. And when asked whether Real Madrid has a goalkeeper for the starting XI for the next matches, he said: “We’ll see that in training this week. What we want is to arrive in Pamplona on Saturday and have doubts about the starting XI because the 24 squad members are training at 100%. That will be good for Real Madrid because we will have a team we can rely on and that will give a good performance, and that is what we all want”.