Iker Casillas urges Real Madrid to focus on Tottenham following shock defeat
Related articles
Real Madrid must quickly forget their shock La Liga defeat to Sporting Gijon and focus on Tuesday's Champions League quarter-final first leg against Tottenham Hotspur, captain Iker Casillas said.
Real's loss at a stunned Bernabeu on Saturday, which spoiled their perfect home record of 14 wins this season and ended coach Jose Mourinho's own nine-year unbeaten run in home league games, severely dented their hopes of ending Barcelona's two-year reign as Spanish champions.
Barca's 1-0 win at Villarreal stretched their lead to eight points with eight matches left and they have what looks to be a significantly easier run-in to the end of the season.
"We will see what happens in La Liga but the priority right now is to concentrate on Tottenham," goalkeeper Casillas told reporters at the Bernabeu.
"We have to absorb the blow and regroup," he added. "It's always hard to digest a defeat but we will deal with it as best we can and with a desire to get the best out of the rest of the season."
Real's joint La Liga top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo, in-form striker Karim Benzema and fullback Marcelo all missed the Gijon game through injury, while midfielder Xabi Alonso was suspended, and they lacked creativity against a stubborn opponent.
Mourinho told a news conference he might risk Ronaldo on Tuesday. The world's most expensive player, who is level on 27 league goals with Barca forward Lionel Messi, has a leg muscle strain and was left out of the squad for Saturday's game.
Benzema would not return to action until next weekend's La Liga match at Athletic Bilbao and fullback Marcelo would be sidelined for two weeks, Mourinho added.
"If we are solid and we don't have offensive problems we have a good chance of winning," said the Portuguese, who won Europe's elite club competition with Inter Milan last season. "At home, it's no drama if you draw."
Latest in Sport
Sport blogs
A changing of the guards in English football: From Sir Alex Ferguson to Jose Mourinho
The guard has changed at Old Trafford for the first time in 26 years. Meanwhile, down the road, the ...
by The Sports Lawyer
21 May 2013 10:01 PM
iBet: Look each way for value in The Cote D’Azur Open
With the top nine players in the men’s world tennis rankings all missing this tournament to prepare ...
by Gareth Purnell
21 May 2013 02:01 AM
On The Road at the Giro d’Italia: We could have been on the tour of Siberia over past 72 hours
When cyclists look back on their careers spanning many hundreds (and in some cases possibly thousand...
by Martin Ayres
20 May 2013 06:12 PM
- 1 'He was lucky he didn't die' - George Michael fell out of speeding car onto M1 motorway, according to eye witness
- 2 Gay couple beaten in park urge MPs to moderate language on gay marriage
- 3 After woman sells virginity for $780,000, here are the results of our prostitution survey
- 4 Far-right French historian, 78-year-old Dominique Venner, commits suicide in Notre Dame in protest against gay marriage
- 5 'It was just like the movie Twister': Man survives Oklahoma tornado by taking refuge in horse stall
Get your summer started with British Military Fitness
BMF is the UK’s biggest and best loved outdoor fitness classes
Visit York
Find out what The Independent's resident travel expert has to say about one of the most beautiful small cities in the world
Enter the latest Independent competitions
Win anything from gadgets to five-star holidays on our competitions and offers page.
Business videos from commercial thought leaders
Watch the best in the business world give their insights into the world of business.
Why clubs are keen to take a stand
In the end the fans decided Tony Pulis had made a pig's ear of the job at Stoke City



Comments