Iker Casillas has told of the difficulties Real Madrid faced in eliminating neighbours Atletico Madrid from the Champions League on Wednesday.
Los Blancos struggled to break down a resolute Atleti defence until Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez’s late winner earned them a 1-0 aggregate victory
However, Spain international Casillas admitted it had been a hard-fought win against a team that notoriously makes things tough for the opposition.
“Ultimately Atletico always make it difficult for you but we deserved to win at the Vicente Calderon and also here at the Bernabeu,” he told Canal Plus post-match.
“These games are decided by small details and we had to wait until Chicharito’s goal in the 88th minute after they had shown their resistance.
“We had to fight and struggle and had to find a way of playing against them. We did that by being strong in midfield.
“[Emergency midfielder] Sergio Ramos is more defensive-minded but we didn’t go backwards and in attack had some very clear opportunities.”
