MTNFootball

Real Madrid assistant coach Aitor Karanka says his side fought well to beat Real Valladolid, despite their defensive errors.

The Whites came back from being a goal down twice in the first half before Mesut Ozil scored his second goal of the night late in the second half to secure a 3-2 win.

"It is true that not for the first time, we have made occasional defensive mistakes,” Karanka told reporters.

“But it must be stressed that they are occasional, easily corrected and above all we must stress the side's terrific fight-back.

“We were capable of fighting back and in the end we won, which is the important thing.”

Karanka also explained the substitutions they made early in the second half, which saw Jose Mourinho’s side transforming their shape.

"At half time we decided to take Nacho off; he was playing very well but with the score at 2-2 we were after more depth, and we put Jose (Callejon) on at left back,” he said.

“Then we took off (Alonso) Arbeloa and put Xabi (Alonso) in the middle to distribute the ball.

“Then we made a more customary sort of substitution, but always looking for the win.”

 

Real remain in third place on the log standings with 32 points from 15 matches, 11 points behind log leaders Barcelona.