Butragueño: “We have to try to get a good result in the first leg”
“It’s the decisive stage now and every match can take you further from the title or closer to it,” said the club's Director of Institutional Relations following the Champions League draw.
Emilio Butragueño assessed the matchup with Benfica in the Champions League Round of 16 playoff. Speaking to Realmadrid TV after the draw in Nyon, the Director of Institutional Relations said: “We’re going back to Lisbon. It’s funny because we went 60 years without playing them and now we’ll face them three times inside a month. We need to get a good result. The other day they played really well and showed their strengths. That has to help us prepare properly for the first leg, get a good result and, with the support of the Bernabéu, qualify for the round of 16.”
“We have to approach the match with the mindset of trying to win it. We're a team that always plays to win. We've got the benefit of the return leg at our stadium, but we have to send a message in the first game and show we're going out to win it."
“We have attacking players who can decide the match at any moment, and we need to take advantage of that. We need to be solid defensively, but we also know that part of our strength comes from our attack, and we must make the most of it.”
Preparation
“Now we have two weeks, and that should help us train, get some injured players back and rest up. We need to make the most of this period to prepare for everything still to come. Of course, we head into it with great excitement. Now comes all the good stuff, and every match can take you closer to the title, or further from it.”
“We need to keep up the positive energy and unity we've shown. We have so much talent, and hopefully we can see our injured players come back. This is a decisive phase, and it will be hugely important for Arbeloa to have almost a full squad available.”