Ramos satisfied with Huntelaar debut
Monday 05 January 2009
Real Madrid coach Juande Ramos
was quite content with the contributions of his new
signings Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Lassana Diarra.
He substituted both players in
the second half but said they had done a good job.
"It's been a while since they
have played. Klaas-Jan could have made it 2-0,"
Ramos said hinting at a good chance Huntelaar had in
the first half.
"But the Villarreal keeper
reacted well."
Huntelaar did not score although
he came close on two occasions, but he did see a yellow
card for a late tackle.
Coach Ramos said he is not overly
concerned with the question of which of his two new
signings should be listed for the Champions League.
Because both Huntelaar and Diarra
have played in the UEFA Cup this season only one of
them can play in the Champions League.
In Spain there is much speculation
about which of the two that should be.
"But that's a thing created
by the media," Ramos said on Sunday.
"These two players can not
be compared. They play in different positions. I shall
decide based on what the team needs, not on who I think
is the better player."
Huntelaar himself was also fairly
pleased with his first appearance for his new club:
"It was a great night and the atmosphere in the
stadium was fantastic. In the first half I played better
than after the break. I had a good chance but the goal
keeper did well. It would of course have been perfect
to score in my first match."
Arjen Robben was the man of the
match yesterday as Madrid won the league game 1-0.
In the first half the Dutch forward
came inside from the right and after rounding three
defenders he curled the ball into the far left corner
from some 20 meters out.
Villlareal had their best chance
in the third minute of stoppage time when defender Eguren
got a free header from around the penalty spot, but
his effort went just over the bar.
|
