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ESPNsoccernet: Europe | |
Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho was not too disappointed after his side began their La Liga title defence with a lacklustre 1-1 draw with Valencia at the Bernabeu.
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• Corrigan: Madrid feel the heat
Madrid had looked set for victory when Gonzalo Higuain struck after ten minutes, but Jonas' header evened things up before half-time and the visitors held on for the point despite some sustained second half pressure.
Mourinho felt that an outstanding display from Valencia keeper Diego Alves, and some luck when Higuain's second-half header hit the crossbar, had denied his side the three points.
"Their goalkeeper was the best player on the pitch," Mourinho said. "He made very good and decisive stops. Perhaps if we had played a little better, if we had played like we did in the second half, we would have had more opportunities. Perhaps if the ball had gone in off the post.
"But football is not about maybes. We have drawn and it is a point for both teams. We played well enough to win but we should have and can play better."
The ex-Chelsea and Inter Milan manager insisted he was not making excuses about the Madrid late afternoon heat (36 Celsius at kick-off) or his players' international commitments last week, but admitted he started usual reserve Lassana Diarra in midfield as the French international was fresher than his colleagues.
"Lass has been very good in pre-season," Mourinho said. "A little better than the rest and we thought it was important to have someone with that intensity. He has trained for 15 more days and did not play with his national side this week. (Sami) Khedira played on Wednesday, and he played hard because his team were reduced to ten men as a team-mate was sent off."
Some of Madrid's bigger names - including midfielder Xabi Alonso and attacker Cristiano Ronaldo - were below their best, and the Portuguese international admitted afterwards that he had not been happy with his own performance.
"I am not right yet, that is normal," Ronaldo said. "I am looking for my form because you have to do it over a long season. I am not 100%, but I hope to find that form soon."
Ronaldo said he was now focused on Thursday evening's Spanish Supercopa first leg clash with Barcelona at Camp Nou.
"It will be a very nice game and we know it will be difficult because they are a great opponent," he said. "We must lift our heads and keep moving forward. We will see what happens. We need to get a good result."
One player unlikely to feature on Thursday night is Ronaldo's Portugal team-mate Pepe, who was injured in a clash of heads with his goalkeeper Iker Casillas as Jonas headed Valencia's equaliser.
The defender asked to be substituted at half-time and went straight to hospital, where he was kept overnight in intensive care ahead of further tests Monday morning.
"I do not remember much about the move," Casillas said. "When I went for the ball, I was hit by Pepe and I do not remember much more. Now the most important thing is that he recovers."
As Madrid pushed for a late winner, Valencia's Roberto Soldado had a goal controversially ruled out for offside. Los Che's new coach Mauricio Pellegrino said either side could have won the game late on, but in all he was happy with his team's performance.
"To play against an opponent of Real Madrid's stature, in that heat, is not easy," Pellegrino said. "At the end the game got stretched and anything could have happened. My team played well, and gave their all. I was not surprised as it is a team which works very hard."