Home
Spain and Real Madrid goalkeeper, Iker Casillas, has said that he wants to win the Champions League with his side this year and that he has never lost confidence in himself...
Real Madrid might be off the pace in La Liga and facing a tricky test in Europe against Liverpool, but the team are still full of confidence, and optimistic about the rest of the season.
Indeed, one of the players who has high aspirations for 2009, is Iker Casillas, who told AS today that he wants to win the Champions League with Real Madrid.
"Without doubt the best moments that I have had are my debut at Real Madrid and the day I won the European Championships with Spain, now in 2009, I want success in the Champions League," he declared.
"Real Madrid has not won in Europe for a long time, and now is the time to recover our prestige, without forgetting about the league."
Certainly Real Madrid may not want to give up on the league, but the reality is that they trail leaders Barcelona by a massive twelve points and have not been in the best of form lately. Casillas could not decide which is more important today, but, speaking about the poor form of the side, and indeed some criticism of himself, he says he has always been upbeat.
"I didn't lose confidence, it is required a lot in tough times," he mused. "People have bad runs of form, I have had nine years in La Primera, and it is normal to have one or two bad months. Nobody can play to the same standard always and what is important is that when you fall you get back up and I am happy with my work again."
Debutants
Against Villarreal at the weekend Casillas showed just why he is so highly-rated, with some world class saves to deny the visitors to the Bernabéu, and he spoke briefly about the game today, analysing mainly the two debuts.
"It was a positive debut for them both, and it was recognised by the fans. Lass [Diarra] is a player in the centre of the pitch who helps the team a lot, is strong and is not afraid about making tackles, whilst [Klaas-Jan] Huntelaar is slightly irked because he missed a good chance. We know he has gone time without playing though, and it was a good debut," he opined.
Another player who Casillas had particular praise for was Arjen Robben, who scored a sublime goal to give Madrid the win, and looked the most dangerous player on the pitch.
"He is a fast, electric, very important and dangerous player, when he is injured the team notices it. That was shown against Barcelona and one must take care of his physical problems. I hope that he will not be injured this season, because it will help the team a lot," he said.
In beating Villarreal, Real Madrid picked up their second straight 1-0 win in La Liga, and Casillas admitted this is something new coach Juande Ramos has spoken about.
"In every chat Juande asks us not to concede. We will always have chances and if we can stop the other team from scoring we will win," he mused.
"It seems that we have suffered though, and that is not good. In these games, to win 1-0 is alright, it gives you three points, but in Europe it could not be enough, we need to score the second goal. We will work to finish games, rather than suffering."
Real Madrid might be off the pace in La Liga and facing a tricky test in Europe against Liverpool, but the team are still full of confidence, and optimistic about the rest of the season.
Indeed, one of the players who has high aspirations for 2009, is Iker Casillas, who told AS today that he wants to win the Champions League with Real Madrid.
"Without doubt the best moments that I have had are my debut at Real Madrid and the day I won the European Championships with Spain, now in 2009, I want success in the Champions League," he declared.
"Real Madrid has not won in Europe for a long time, and now is the time to recover our prestige, without forgetting about the league."
Certainly Real Madrid may not want to give up on the league, but the reality is that they trail leaders Barcelona by a massive twelve points and have not been in the best of form lately. Casillas could not decide which is more important today, but, speaking about the poor form of the side, and indeed some criticism of himself, he says he has always been upbeat.
"I didn't lose confidence, it is required a lot in tough times," he mused. "People have bad runs of form, I have had nine years in La Primera, and it is normal to have one or two bad months. Nobody can play to the same standard always and what is important is that when you fall you get back up and I am happy with my work again."
Debutants
Against Villarreal at the weekend Casillas showed just why he is so highly-rated, with some world class saves to deny the visitors to the Bernabéu, and he spoke briefly about the game today, analysing mainly the two debuts.
"It was a positive debut for them both, and it was recognised by the fans. Lass [Diarra] is a player in the centre of the pitch who helps the team a lot, is strong and is not afraid about making tackles, whilst [Klaas-Jan] Huntelaar is slightly irked because he missed a good chance. We know he has gone time without playing though, and it was a good debut," he opined.
Another player who Casillas had particular praise for was Arjen Robben, who scored a sublime goal to give Madrid the win, and looked the most dangerous player on the pitch.
"He is a fast, electric, very important and dangerous player, when he is injured the team notices it. That was shown against Barcelona and one must take care of his physical problems. I hope that he will not be injured this season, because it will help the team a lot," he said.
In beating Villarreal, Real Madrid picked up their second straight 1-0 win in La Liga, and Casillas admitted this is something new coach Juande Ramos has spoken about.
"In every chat Juande asks us not to concede. We will always have chances and if we can stop the other team from scoring we will win," he mused.
"It seems that we have suffered though, and that is not good. In these games, to win 1-0 is alright, it gives you three points, but in Europe it could not be enough, we need to score the second goal. We will work to finish games, rather than suffering."
