Real Madrid coach Juande Ramos was pleased with his players after last night's 1-0 victory over Villarreal.

Arjen Robben's effort midway through the first-half was all that separated the two teams, but Ramos remarked afterwards: "We faced a major rival in Villarreal, a team that is playing pretty good football.

"Our first-half was very good, I think we shaded it and could have scored more than one goal to give us peace of mind going into the second half.

"That is what we needed, to get the second."

On Lassana Diarra and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Ramos added: "Lass did an excellent job. I replaced him when he requested the change because he was exhausted. Huntelaar was also good. It is a pity that he did not score to lift his confidence."