AFP - El País
Rafael Benítez, ratified in his position as coach of Real Madrid despite the humiliation suffered in the league against historical rivals Barcelona (4-0) at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, stated that Real Madrid is "heading in the right direction", after their 4-3 victory against Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League on Wednesday in Ukraine.
"We have conceded 10 goals in the last three matches, but today (Wednesday), we played as a united team, which is very encouraging. Scoring four goals away from home shows that the team is heading in the right direction", said the Real Madrid coach.
"We are on the path to a complete recovery. This afternoon (Wednesday), everything was going well for us for a large part of the match. But Shakhtar is a strong and aggressive team, so it's normal for them to score at home", Benítez added after his team secured a spot in the Champions League round of 16.
Cristiano Ronaldo, with a header in the 18th minute, scored the first goal of the freezing night in Lviv, and the rest came in the second half, through Luka Modric (50'), Dani Carvajal (52') and again Cristiano (70').
Just when everything seemed decided, Shakhtar reacted and made it thrilling with three Brazilian goals, scored by Alex Teixeira (78' penalty, 89') and Dentinho (83'), although they couldn't score the fourth to avoid defeat.