Coaches dispute on merits of "El Classico" outcome
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Real Madrid coach Manuel Pellegrini and Barcelona's Pep Guardiola disagreed about the merits of each side following Sunday's Barca win in the Spanish "El Classico" at the Camp Nou Stadium.
A Zlatan Ibrahimovich goal in 55th minute was enough to give Barcelona a 1-0 win over its arch-rivals and to go back to the top of the Primera Liga table.
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Barcelona's coach Josep Guardiola (R) gives instructions to Swedish player Zlatan Ibrahimovic during their Spanish first division soccer match against Real Madrid at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona November 29, 2009. [Xinhua/Reuters Photo] |
However, Barcelona had to struggle against a well-organized Real Madrid side and better finishing from Madrid, who missed several chances, otherwise it could well have seen a different outcome.
"The result doesn't correspond to what happened in the game, we deserved at least a draw. Least of all we deserved to lose," said the Real Madrid coach on Gol television.
"Unless I am mistaken they didn't have a shot on target, while we had two clear chances with Cristiano Ronaldo and Marcelo. We had some good counter attacks and although they scored and had a Messi chance in the second half, we had various chances," insisted Pellegrini.
The coach also defended his decision to substitute Cristiano Ronaldo after 62 minutes with Karim Benzema as his side was trailing 1-0.
"Cristiano had been authorized to play for 60 minutes, if we had left him on longer, it would have been imprudent. He played the time he had to play," he said of the player who has just recovered from an ankle injury.
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Barcelona's Zlatan Ibrahimovic (R) and Real Madrid's Xabi Alonso fight for the ball during their Spanish first division soccer match at Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona November 29, 2009. [Xinhua/Reuters Photo] |
Barcelona's Pep Guardiola saw things differently, although he admitted his players should have done better.
"It was not an easy game for us mentally. It is always a great merit to beat Real Madrid. But we were not balanced and there was too much distance between the defense and midfield," said Guardiola.
"We played better in the second half, I asked the players to be patient, to move the ball move and we hung on well.
"Real Madrid is a great team, but they were not better than us and neither did they dominate the game," he added.
