Mourinho singing Real Madrid's praises

Posted Wednesday, October 19, 2011 by ESPN

Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho was ecstatic about the manner that Real Madrid thumped Lyon in their 4-0 Champions League victory.

The victory continued the La Liga giant's perfect run in the competition this season, with three wins out of three fixtures, and the Portuguese admitted how pleased he was at the win to UEFA.com after the game.

"We played well and won well", Mourinho smiled, adding: "From the first minute I felt we were going to win the match".

"It is important to have nine points, especially now that Ajax and Lyon have four points each. We are almost there in terms of finishing first in the group, which is our main objective.

"All the matches in the group are as important as each other as all the teams are capable of finishing first, though we are better placed now.

I enjoyed watching my team tonight. Except for a ten-minute period where we relaxed, which is normal, we controlled the match throughout.

"We put Lyon under a lot of pressure and did not let them off easily, even when we knew the game was won.

He also gave an insight towards his squad selection before the match, revealing: "I selected Karim Benzema because I knew Lyon were going to play defensively.

"Benzema, Mesut Özil and Cristiano Ronaldo know to play against sides who set up this way and I was confident they would find a way to break them down - which they did", the crafty tactician added.

Remi Garde, Lyon's coach, admitted his side was outclassed, sighing: "Madrid punished us tonight. It was a difficult game. We have not played against a side as strong as them in a long time".

"We knew that they would be strong and full of confidence and we had some late withdrawals which did not help our preparations.

"I had feared the game could go this way, with Madrid dominating possession and forcing us to defend. We found it difficult to get hold of the ball and physically we were a bit off the pace. I thought we could create chances on the counterattack but I was surprised at how hard they worked to win the ball back.

The ex-Arsenal player believes that Real could be unstoppable in the competition.

"I thought before the game Real Madrid will go far in the UEFA Champions League", the Frenchman said.

"I haven't changed my mind. As the games go on in the competition they become harder, but when you see Gonzalo Higuaín, Kaká and Fábio Coentrão coming off the bench you see they have the depth to go all the way.

"We need to be strong and bounce back from this. We knew it would be difficult but when you concede four goals it is even harder to take. Now we return to the league where we have other objectives. Both I, as coach, and my players need to show great strength and treat every game as though we are playing Real Madrid", Garde concluded.