Raphael Varane has said the Real Madrid players were made to work hard in their game against Espanyol on Saturday, especially after Fabio Coentrao had been given his marching orders.
Los Blancos won 3-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu to get back to winning ways in La Liga having lost against Valencia last week. There was talk of a full scale crisis mounting at the club after they lost their first leg of the the Copa del Rey tie against Atletico de Madrid three days later.
Against Espanyol, Real were back to their ruthless best, and although they played much of the second half with 10 men, they never looked in danger of dropping any points.
Speaking after the match, France defender Varane said: “We wanted to get back to winning ways, that was the aim, and this is a very good result. We also earned the result well. It was difficult in the second half, when we had ten men, it was more complicated but we worked well and as a team to get the win. The team reacted well.
“Pepe and I had solid games, especially in terms of aerial play, and we have to continue on like that. I think that I can improve in offense and score goals.”
