April 02, 2012

Mourinho: "Benzema's goal is from out of this world"

"I like to see that all my men respond. It wasn't an easy game and both Granero and Albiol, who hadn't played for a long time, responded very well. This shows the strength of the group and of each individual player. We're all very happy with their performance, just like we were with Sahin's in Cyprus. It always makes us very happy to see men who don't usually play doing this well. As their coach, I wish to thank them for their performances."





"You never know what the score will be like. Benzema netted a goal that is out of this world in the first chance we got and Cristiano scored from a fantastic shot in our second chance. We did two things very well tonight: we adapted to Osasuna's style and we didn't lose our identity in attack. We did well overall and we reacted after Osasuna gained some strength with their goal."

"We hardly had any chances to score here last year, but Osasuna attacked more after we had a 3-0 advantage, leaving spaces for us to attack in. We therefore had many chances from counterattacks. It isn't normal to have so many chances here because games at this stadium are very even."

"Khedira is different and brings different qualities to the team. I chose Nuri in Cyprus and today I chose Granero. I try to use the best possible combinations regarding each player and match. I knew what to expect and decided to use Granero. It proved right and I am especially happy for Granero and Albiol. They gave a fantastic performance."