Real Madrid 2-2 Borussia Dortmund
Coach Jose Mourinho reacts:
“If the group ended today we would qualify. If this is the toughest group and Real Madrid have always been in the qualifying positions then I do not know what the drama is. If we qualify from this group that is a success and we are close to doing so. If we finish second in the group then that is a problem for the first place team who are going to be drawn against us in the next round. Whoever finishes first normally expects a slightly easier opponent. Imagine drawing Real Madrid. We had a fantastic match here against City and today it could have been the same. If I was a fan I would prefer to watch matches like this a see a draw that see matches from the other groups that are more like Europa League matches”.
Callejón came in the second half and José Mourinho highlighted the role that he played: “We had a problem. We were losing and we lost Higuaín. We did not have another striker on the bench and we had to come back from a goal behind, but we managed it and Callejón had an influence on it. Because we were playing with four attackers we decided to switch Modric for Essien and play with only two in the middle and without a number ten. With two in midfield it was not the formation for Luka, it was for Xabi and Essien. We pushed much higher and we played with more fluidity. José (Callejón) was very good, was calm, dynamic and scored a perfect goal, a legal goal. I can say that now that I’ve seen it on TV. Lots of television stations have asked me if I the draw seemed liked a win, and I said that it would have seemed like a win if we had only scored two goals. We scored three so I’m not happy with the result”.
Ronaldo played a great match and kept going until the end and the Real Madrid coach praised his performance: “He had a great match. If he has physical problems he plays through them and he had a great second half without a target man up front he had to play in areas that are not usually his and he had to come back to build the play. I think he had a great match”.
About Morata’s absence from the squad he explained: “It’s easy. It’s my fault. He played 90 minutes on Sunday with Castilla. I was asked and I said yes. I did not think I was going to lose Benzema in training. I thought about playing with Benzema and having Higuaín on the bench. Then I was in situation with Benzema injured and Higuaín out of the match after 30 minutes. It’s my fault. They asked me for Morata because they had their striker, Jesé, suspended and I said yes. It’s my fault”
The team conceded two goals in the first half and had a brilliant second half: “We made two big defensive errors, if not three, because they could have scored another goal. When you play against great teams with great players, you get killed, they do not let you off. We did not win the second balls. Almost all of them we won by Dortmund who broke forward quickly. We played with the ball in the same area for too long without getting away from the pressure that Dortmund were putting us under and they do that very well but in the second half it was the opposite. I liked the second half a lot”.
About the fans in the Bernabéu and how they were during the match, Mourinho said: “Anyone who has been with Real Madrid for two years is not surprised by the whistles or the support. They are cultural things, its normal, we will not change it. In the first half the team did not play well and the stadium obviously didn’t enjoy that. In the second half they got behind the team. They were honest “. Finally, when asked about the possibility of Benzema and Higuaín playing in the next match he added: “I don’t think that either will be available for Sunday”.
