Milito was back in the starting line up after a few weeks on the bench and as the team’s leading ball winner during the game, he played a big part in the win which he described as: “very important - we couldn’t win it as comfortably as we would have liked – the result was in the air up till the end”.

Below are the post match comments from some of the other players:

Mascherano

“It was a difficult game because Zaragoza put a lot of men back in defence. In the end, we on and stretched our lead at the top ahead of Sunday’s game, now we can think ahead to Tuesday when we have a very important match”.

“Of course I’d like to score, but it hasn’t happened. Winning is the most important though”.

“The boss decided to rest some players and it worked out okay with the win. Now, there will be players who are fresher on Tuesday”.

Maxwell

“We’ve won an important game against a team who came just to defend”.

“I’m fine, I just got a bad knock on my ankle”

“The best way to prepare for Tuesday was to win this game”.

“We always need the boss with us. We know the pain he’s going through, but also that he wants to be here. We hope he gets better soon”.

Pedro

“We knew we couldn’t slip up. We played well”.

“Scoring in the first half was key. We are doing a lot of good work defending and we are happy for the win”.

“It’s going to be a tough game on Tuesday, we will start preparing well for it on Sunday”.

“I just want to keep helping the team”.

Alves

“If it’s up to him, Puyol will play against Arsenal”.

“Madrid still have to play, but we are relaxed because we have done our job”.

Victor Valdès

“I’m fine and also happy with the win”.

“We controlled the game and Zaragoza hardly created a chance”.

“The win will give us confidence, which is important for Tuesday”.