Real Madrid edged past Shakhtar Donestk in matchday three of the Champions League group stage and remain top of the group. Two of the protagonists Valverde and Kroos made their comments after the game and as they expressed their happiness for the win, also pointed out how this game could have produced even more goals if Madrid was a little bit luckier.
Kroos gave his verdict after the win at the Bernabéu: "Some days the ball doesn't want to go in, we could have won by more. In the end we've picked up three points and it's a deserved win. We put in a very good first half performance, we played a lot of football and put a lot of pressure on them, it was a very good performance. We were just missing a few more goals".
The German continued: "Ancelotti told us at half-time that we had to keep focusing on our game as they were only one goal behind. I can't believe that we only went in 2-1 up, but some days it's like that. The ball will definitely go in for us in the next few games".
Five points clear over second: "Our objective is to finish the group as soon as possible. We've taken nine points from three games, we can't do much better than that. We've put in some very good performances in the Champions League. We want to record another good result next week and do it with qualify".
After Toni Kroos, it was Fede Valverde who spoke: "I'm happy to get the win. I'm obviously a bit disappointed because we could have got more goals, but we were positive, everyone was looking to get on the score sheet today. We will have to keep improving in scoring goals and be more confident with the result".
"Ancelotti encouraged us to keep looking to get the goal because we couldn't relax, a 2-1 scoreline could always go either way. I think we played well, we still needed to improve a bit more in defence, be more switched on with the midfielders and stop them playing between the lines. I have to keep getting better because there's still a long way to go, he continued.
The strategy: "My job was to shut off that pass in the middle, which they were always looking for. I had to try to get forward, be positive and help the midfielders and forwards with the press. I also had to help Carvajal out wide. I think personally we performed well, we were just missing the goal".
Feelings: "I'm very proud of the work we put in, It feels like we've drawn today and we won. We've picked up three more points, we're still top of the table and we've won every game. We're going be looking to keep on winning in all the remaining games. We're going to enjoy this game, sometimes wins that are hard fought are much more enjoyable".
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