Huntelaar 'seeks' Real exit

(GETTY IMAGES)

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar is reported to be considering his future at Real Madrid just weeks after joining the Spanish champions.

The Netherlands striker is believed to be unhappy after being omitted from their revised squad eligible to compete in the latter stages of the Champions League.

The £15m former Ajax striker was overlooked in favour of fellow January signing Lassana Diarra in the 25-man squad to play in Europe.

"I can't stand this situation anymore," he is quoted as telling AS.

"They have neither included me for the Champions League nor do they want to play me in La Liga.

"(Coach) Juande (Ramos) does not have any confidence in me. I want to leave Madrid. I can't bear this."

Across the city, coach Abel Resino believes the 'bad times' are over for Atletico Madrid after beginning his reign with a 3-0 victory over Recreativo.

Resino was unveiled as Javier Aguirre's replacement last week and goals from Sergio Aguero and Diego Forlan (2) confirmed his winning start to life in the Vicente Calderon hot-seat.

"We knew that Recreativo would play to their strengths and try to contain us, but we played well and we can forget about the bad times," he said.

"We had a lot of opportunities to increase the scoreline.

"We scored our goals when their defence was off-guard and we knew how to take advantage of that."

Elsewhere, coach Pep Guardiola believes Barcelona have rediscovered the intensity needed to win La Liga following Sunday's 3-1 victory over Sporting Gijon.

Barca reclaimed their 12-point lead over Real Madrid at the top of the table with a committed performance which pleased the coach.

Guardiola had been concerned that complacency was creeping into recent performances following the winter break.

He said: "We are starting to fight for the ball again. We have recovered our tone and our intensity and we are playing with more fluidity between defence and attack.

"We were much tighter and we gave our opponents very little time on the ball. We maintained the same rhythm in the second half and we had the match in our control.

"But we must continue in this manner. As each week goes by, there will be fewer and fewer games but anything can still happen."