Jose Mourinho admits he is worried about Real Madrid’s current form but said Wednesday’s 0-0 draw was down to Racing Santander’s negative tactics. After the narrow Super Cup defeat to Barcelona, Madrid looked in good form at the start of the season as they scored ten goals in their opening two La Liga games against Real Zaragoza and Getafe.
However, they could only beat Dinamo Zagreb 1-0 in the Champions League and have since lost 1-0 to Levante and been held to a goalless draw by Racing.
Speaking after Wednesday’s match, Mourinho said:
“It’s less worrisome to draw a match in which you’re the only side that tries to play and win. We’ve dropped five points in two away games and that is worrisome. We’ve scored one goal in our last three games and we must return to normality by scoring and winning on Saturday [against Rayo Vallecano].”
He added:
“We had complete control over the game, especially in the first half. We played in our opponent’s half of the pitch after half-time and we didn’t have that many chances on goal. This is due to Racing, who defended fiercely and played their game well looking to take one point. As a team, we didn’t do our best and some of our players performed under par, but we tried to win and ended the game the way we played it: with two defenders, with someone playing in the middle and with two forwards. Our concentration was better tonight than it was on Sunday and I have a different overall feeling about the game. We dropped four points away from home last season in our first few games.”
While Mourinho was willing to pay tribute to Racing’s defensive performance, he felt the hosts resorted to underhand tactics to force the stalemate.
“The pace was broken by simulation, by injuries, by the stretcher coming onto the pitch,” he said. “We’re responsible for this because we failed to put a stop to it.”
Madrid were at least boosted by the news of Barcelona’s 2-2 draw with Valencia later on Wednesday night, and midfielder Xabi Alonso has stressed that there is plenty of football still to be played this season.
“We’re not having the best of runs at the moment, but we’ve got time to change it. We are a united group of players who must all row in the same direction,” he told the club’s official website. “Our matches against Racing and Levante were different, but both opponents did well and we didn’t. We found it hard to create chances to score. Football isn’t science. Sometimes you’re fitter than others. We mustn’t lose faith – this is a long-distance run and there is still a lot to be played.”
