Check out the post-match reactions from Vinicius Jr, Sergio Ramos, Thibaut Courtois, Fede Valverde and Casemiro after the big El Clásico victory over Barcelona on Sunday night, which puts Real Madrid back on top of the LaLiga table.
VINICIUS JR:
“It’s my best night as a Real Madrid player. I always work a lot and I knew that a moment like this would come. Kroos passed me the ball, we always do it in training, today it came off and I scored. The shot was on target. We continue to work as always. Zidane is asking for the best from us, we played very well today and we won. My team-mates congratulated me on the goal. We have to keep it up for us and for our fans. Play for ourselves. I pointed to the badge in the celebration because I play for the best team in the world and I want to make the fans happy.”
RAMOS:
“Winning a Clásico is a positive thing. After recent results, some of which were not so good, and having been knocked off top spot, we needed to make it up to the fans and beat a top rival like Barcelona. It was a great chance to get some control back and get a result without conceding… These are three vital points. There is a lot of road left to run and we need to focus. We have to get the most points we could. This win is great. In the end, we let Barcelona have the ball more. We decided to sit back. I don’t know if that was the best approach, but it was the decision we took. They had control of the ball, but they didn’t create any real chances. When you play Barcelona, you need to not be afraid. Yes, we have great mutual respect, but we knew how to go out there and clinch it tonight.”
CASEMIRO:
“I am happy with the team and what we did. These are three vital points. We made sure we killed the game at the end. We showed how strong we are, it is important that people believe in us. We have a long way to go in LaLiga and many games. Thanks to the Bernabéu faithful supporting us till the last. Together we can win titles, we really needed them tonight. Vinicius Jr. deserved that goal. We celebrated from the heart. At the break, the boss told us to go forward.”
COURTOIS:
“At 0-0 in the first half, it was important not to concede any goals. When it was my turn I made good saves, like against Arthur and Messi. Then in the second half we were better and made the difference. After our last results we have continued to work well. I think we played better in those games but we didn’t win, football is about small details. Today we got the win, also with the help of our fans, which is key and they have been incredible. We did very well along with the fans.”
VALVERDE
“We are thrilled. This effort we made has its rewards. I want to thank my teammates and the fans for all their support tonight. This is down to everyone and we are all pushing for the same outcome. We turned it around after that tough loss. This was a chance to change things. Zidane told us to go one on one but that meant that each player had to battle hard and not give the ball away. I think we showed our best on the pitch. Being a Real Madrid player you have to try to win all the trophies you can. Today was a chance to show people around the world just what Real Madrid stands for.”
