Real Madrid coach Juande Ramos refused to criticise his players after last night's 4-0 thumping at Liverpool.

The result was Real's worst in Champions League action and Ramos said: "I think the team has done everything they could.

"It's football. We wanted to take the initiative and in this case Liverpool has grabbed it and didn't let us back in.

"When a match starts, there are two teams on the pitch trying to overcome one another. Liverpool has been better than us, they were better, they achieved a deserved victory and we have never been able to fight back."

Asked about his future at Real, Ramos snapped: "I will not return to discuss this topic until the end of the season."