Real Madrid vs Barcelona: We were scared of losing El Clasico, says Luka Modric

Los Blancos fought back from a goal down to win 3-1 at the Bernabeu

Tom Sheen
Monday 27 October 2014 08:48 EDT
Comments
(GETTY IMAGES)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric says his team were scared of losing El Clasico and giving up key ground in the La Liga title race.

Had Barcelona, who took an early lead through Neymar, won the game, they would have gone seven points clear at the top of the table.

But the home side fought back with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring from the spot, Pepe heading in from a corner and Karim Benzema finishing off a brilliant counter-attack.

The 3-1 win at the Bernabeu cut Barcelona's lead at the top of the division to just a single point.

"We felt the pressure early on in the game because of the importance of the Clasico. We feared losing the game and letting Barcelona go seven points clear in the title race," Modric told Croatian newspaper Sportske Novosti.

"But Barcelona also showed in those opening 15 minutes that they will punish you even if you give them very little space. Barcelona are very strong, but they looked powerless because we were great.

"The key was Iker Casillas' save to deny Lionel Messi. It would have been very hard to get back into the game had Barcelona gone 2-0 up. We showed our mental strength and stability by fighting back."

The former Spurs midfielder said it was the best performance he had been involved in since arriving at the club since 2012.

"This was Madrid's best performance since I got here. We showed what we can do against top opposition. We showed that nobody can fight us if we make good use of our quality.

"We could have scored even more. But beating a team that hadn't conceded a single goal until this game 3-1 is a great performance. This win is a big boost for us, but we shouldn't get carried away. Barcelona are still one point clear."

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in