Diego Lopez says that Real Madrid needed and deserved the three points against Elche on Wednesday, in preparation for the weekend’s derby.
Los Blancos ran out 2-1 winners in Week 6’s midweek round thanks to a Cristiano Ronaldo double, with the second a penalty controversially awarded deep into stoppage time.
For the side’s first-choice goalkeeper, though, focus is on the end result, with the team now turning attention to welcoming Atletico Madrid on Saturday.
“Winning three points is the best thing that could have happened with the derby coming up on Saturday,” mused Lopez to reporters afterwards.
“It was a hard match. Elche played well against us, they caused us problems and scored that goal at the end, which we shouldn’t have conceded under any circumstance.
“We showed character to carry on fighting and get the penalty at the end. They played very deep, were very compact, and on the counter and from set plays they are very dangerous.
“This is a competitive League, the other teams also play well and we couldn’t afford to slip up in this game.”
Madrid struggled through the game to create clear goalscoring opportunities.
“The equaliser made things very difficult for us. We lack penetration and depth, we needed to play more like the Real Madrid people are used to.
“The team is still gelling together. We have to be patient, we have everything we need to have a great season and we believe in the squad.
“We know that all the teams are going to be hard to play against and that Elche are very organised at the back. We have to carry on working like this.
“I am happy and enjoying each match in which I have the opportunity to play.”
The ‘keeper was asked for his view on the penalty incident at the end, but declined too much comment.
“I don’t know a lot about the last move, but I think we played well and the result is fair.”
