Schuster: I'm Proud Of My PlayersDespite watching his side crash out of the Champions League after a 2-1 home defeat to AS Roma, Real Madrid coach Bernd Schuster praised his squad's efforts...
The German tactician had few harsh words after watching his side suffer their first home European defeat of the season.
"Today was a story very similar to the one we saw in the first leg: Madrid made every effort," he told the official Real Madrid website.
"We worked well and created chances against a very well-situated team. There's no denying that our team worked for ways to find the goal, but some moments of fate during the match set us back, so we didn't achieve the desired result.
"The players gave everything that they had. I cannot ask for more: I can only congratulate them."
Praising the opposition, he said, "Roma are very clever opponents to play against, and it's not easy to overcome the way they act.
"But what nobody can deny is that we tried hard to seek a win against a highly-rated rival."
When quizzed on home defeats against the likes of Mallorca as well as Roma, he added, "For me, this isn't a defeat, even though we haven't qualified.
"Against Mallorca, we deserved to win 7-1. Today, until we went 1-0 down we seemed more likely to get that first goal, although it didn't happen.
"We were the best until a key moment: the expulsion of Pepe and the injury to Salgado. That hurt us a lot.
"But this team did well playing with one man less. Their reaction was spectacular. Until going 1-0 up, Roma had just the one chance.
"Particularly noteworthy is that this team showed character. It can never be easily beaten: with being a man down, and everything against them, they believed that they could do it."
If they can do it, though, both the players and Schuster must wait until next year.
me2
好感動
