spoke to the press afterbeat Barcelona ( 2-0 ) at the. The captain looked at the importance of the win: “Winning a Clásico is a positive thing. After recent results, some of which were not so good, and having been knocked off top spot, we needed to make it up to the fans and beat a top rival like Barcelona. It was a great chance to get some control back and get a result without conceding... These are three vital points. There is a lot of road left to run and we need to focus. We have to get the most points we could.”“This win is great. In the end, we let Barcelona have the ball more. We decided to sit back. I don't know if that was the best approach, but it was the decision we took. They had control of the ball, but they didn't create any real chances. When you play Barcelona, you need to not be afraid. Yes, we have great mutual respect, but we knew how to go out there and clinch it tonight.”“In the end when you don’t get the results you feel that you owe the fans for their warmth and support. When thepiles the pressure on it really helps, and winning tonight helped too. We wanted a victory. Now we need to keep going and keep that satisfacción with titles, not just victories”.“In the second half we switched it up. We wanted to press high, get the ball in their half and got the result. We created chances and got a goal. After that we killed the game”.

“These are different phases to a match. These are decisions we make based on how you size up your rivals and your own team. We felt better as it went on. We don't know if we did it in the best way but we did it nonetheless. We are ecstatic with the outcome and we’re back on top. Now we need to keep our focus.”



Modesty

“Mistakes should be learned from. This will help us to improve and grow. Self-reflection at this club is key and we have done that. Growing is a great product of such modesty.”



Marking Messi

“He is one of the best players ever. Messi creates is a constant threat and we need to stay aware around him. He is his team’s best player, but Marcelo, Casemiro and I were on him and closed him down. The defensive work was top level tonight and that helped give the that reassurance.”



Casemiro: "These are three vital points"

Casemiro summed up el Clásico, which was his 100th win in LaLiga for Real Madrid. He has played 144 games and scored 16 goals. After beating Barcelona, he said: “I am happy with the team and what we did. These are three vital points. We made sure we killed the game at the end. We showed how strong we are, it is important that people believe in us. We have a long way to go in LaLiga and many games”.



“Thanks to the Bernabéu faithful supporting us til the last. Together we can win titles, we really needed them tonight. Vinicius Jr. deserved that goal. We celebrated from the heart. At the break the boss told us to go forward. If Karim was better positioned maybe he would have passed the ball, but that wasn't the case so he shot. We discussed that afterwards. He had a great game”.