Sevilla 2-6 Real Madrid

RM: Post-Match Comments (12.17.11)

Mourinho: ”We faced Sevilla, who aren’t a small team with no ambition or quality. Casillas made two incredible saves in the first half, but the team did a good job overall, giving a solid performance down to ten men after half-time. Albiol came on & gave the game the tranquility I expected. My team made a great sacrifice, & Di María is an example of that. He will go to Argentina in mid-week, but is ready to play. He now returns to support his family. We have a great spirit. Last week I told our supporters we were leaders. Today I tell them we are leaders on our own.” [videos - English / Spanish]

Cristiano: “I don’t care what people say about me. I just do my job & focus on my team.” [video - Spanish]

Casillas: [video - Spanish]

on Cristiano - “When one is as great a player as Cristiano Ronaldo & has such high standards it’s normal for people to be demanding of you, maybe more than they should. He has proven time & again to be a great player, & he responds when he has to. He is very important to us, & we hope he continues to score many goals.”

on the win - “What matters is we’ve left last week’s defeat behind us & that we earned an important victory over a difficult opponent. We had a very positive run that came to an end last week. Tasting victory again is very important. We are more at ease now.“ 

Di María: “I’m very happy with the team’s work & for being a starter again. I knew I’d have a chance to score tonight &, thank God, I was able to dedicate my goal. We’re still having a good run, & we’re leaders. We have to keep up the good work.” [video - Spanish]

Pepe: “We earned a very important victory. It is very difficult to play being one man down in the second half, but the important thing is we took the three points. What matters is how my teammates worked to earn such a positive result.” [video - Spanish]

Callejón: “We have to be in top form always for the coach. We achieved our goal tonight, which is what matters. We’re leaders.” [video - Spanish]

Men of the Match: Cristiano Ronaldo - Ángel di María - Iker Casillas

[photo credit: AP & Getty Images]

In Case You Missed It / photo gallery / video highlights

Some Cristiano statistics - (via Mister Chip)

• first player in league history to net 43 goals in one year
• leads the Primera with 20 goals, becoming the first player in la Liga to do so in the first 16 games since César (‘50/’51)
• 12 Spanish league hat-tricks, last achieved in 1964

Real Madrid will end 2011 with a three-point cushion at the top of the league table. Los merengues have also reached another milestone: 119 league goals in a calendar year. This is a new record in Spain, breaking Barcelona’s 2010 record (113).

The team will hold a closed training for the final match of the year, the return leg of the Copa del Rey against Ponferradina (Tuesday, December 20, 8 pm CET / 2 pm EST). League action picks back up January 7 or 8 when Real Madrid host Granada.