“It has not gone as we wanted”.
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“There is still a long way to go and this is by no means decisive, but we leave here feeling very, very satisfied”, he said.
“It is a memorable game against the eternal rival”.
The Argentinian worldwide missed seven weeks of the season with a knee injury, but made his return as a substitute in the weekend’s 4-0 win over Real Madrid.
But speaking after Saturday’s game, he said: “I decided it during the week and I wanted to get feedback from him”.
“It’s nothing different to anyone else coming back from an injury of two months”. It was relatively easy – the best option for Leo.
“The business plan is brilliant – they’re very, very rich. The football plan is very poor, and under Florentino Perez they have won one league in seven years, which suggests that his idea of putting big names on the pitch does not work”.
“I did not see it like that”, he said.
Not only them, the Barceloan defenders – Javier Mascherano, Gerard Pique, Jordi Alba and Dani Alves didn’t give much opportunities for Real’s famed attacking trio of Gaeth Bale, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo. We coughed up some balls, and a good team like them can do you damage.
“We were superior, but that is to our credit, not their discredit. After the first goal, we controlled the game, with possession in midfield and had many chances”.
Whilst Madrid started with 10 foreigners for the first time in a Clasico, Barca remained true to their traditions with five graduates from their La Masia academy in the starting line-up.
Rivaldo believes Madrid should follow Barca’s example of handing former players Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique the chance in the dugout and replace Benitez with the former France worldwide.
After the game, Barcelona are six points cleared from Real in the La Liga standings while Atletico Madrid jumped to second place after beating Real Betis and they are now four points behind points leaders Barcelona.
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