Mourinho: We only wanted to win

Posted Tuesday, November 29, 2011 by ESPN

Real Madrid tactician Jose Mourinho praised his side’s winning mentality after their 4-1 triumph over city neighbours Atletico Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu.

It was Atletico who drew first blood when Adrian Lopez opened their account after 15 minutes but a routine brace from Cristiano Ronaldo and strikes from Angel Di Maria and Gonzalo Higuain saw Real easily overcome their fierce rivals.

Mourinho took particular offence to Atletico's roughhouse tactics and credited his troops for not getting sucked into their opponents' robust approach.

"My team wanted to win," Mourinho told the club's official website. "My men didn't want to play an ugly or rough game. We wanted to win. We played to win and won, despite a little bruising."

"Luckily we had carbon fibre shin pads that work really well. We did our job. We played with discipline and only received one yellow card in the entire 90 minutes. We remained calm, concentrated and didn't react to anything."

Madrid were handed a huge helping hand from Atletico goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois after he was sent for an early shower by referee Mateu Lahoz in the 20th minute for a rash challenge on Karim Benzema in the penalty box.

According to Mourinho, the decision to eject the Chelsea loanee was the right call.

"The challenge on Benzema was worthy of a penalty and a red card. The goalkeeper had to decide either to tackle the player or concede an unstoppable goal," he continued.

"I tell my keepers that I'd rather they concede a goal in these situations than give the opponent a penalty and therefore see a red card. Atletico's goalkeeper decided to take a risk and the penalty was clear."

"My team always played well. It was ambitious and motivated. It was also emotionally controlled. We must now be patient and keep our vision. Our streak will eventually come to an end," said the former Inter boss.

Barcelona's surprising 1-0 defeat to Getafe capped off a perfect weekend for Madrid, with the latter now enjoying a six point advantage over their hated rivals.