Casillas: We should have put the match to bed before the break

22 Nov 2012 07:35:00

The Spain international was not impressed with his side's finishing in the first half, but was pleased that the Blancos eventually secured second spot in their section

Iker Casillas feels that Real Madrid should have decided Wednesday's Champions League match against Manchester City in the opening 45 minutes, but added that qualification for the knockout stages was eventually all that mattered.

The Liga champions missed numerous chances to double their 1-0 lead before half-time, and saw City restore parity after the interval as Sergio Aguero converted a penalty, much to the disappointment of the Madrid goalkeeper.

"We had chances to finish the match off before the break, but Manchester City made things difficult in the second half," Casillas was quoted as saying on the official Uefa website.

"We had a tough time after [Alvaro] Arbeloa's sending-off, and they got some momentum from that, the penalty and the equaliser.

"We struggled but we managed to get what we needed from the match and to qualify.

"I agree with [Jose] Mourinho. The important thing was that we got through to the round of 16, we had a very tough group."

Madrid sit second in Group D with eight points from five games, four points ahead of third-placed Ajax, while Borussia Dortmund top the table.

Sign up with William Hill for a free bet up to £25
Sign up with bet365 for a free bet up to £200
Sign up to Paddy Power for £250 in free bets

Inside Goal.Com

Player Ratings: Siena 1-2 AC Milan
Goal was on hand to judge all the players as Allegri's men finished third in Serie A and secured a Champions League berth next season
Player Ratings: Barcelona 2-1 Valladolid
Goal rates the players on show as the newly-crowned Liga champions cruised past the challenge of Miroslav Djukic's men to keep up hopes of reaching 100 points
Arsenal hold their nerve in top-four battle
Arsene Wenger's side produced a clinical performance to secure a top-four Premier League finish but now they must kick on if they wish to challenge for honours next year
Player Ratings: Newcastle 0-1 Arsenal
Laurent Koscielny's 52nd-minute volley secured the Gunners the win over Alan Pardew's side and made sure they would be playing Champions League football next season
Player Ratings: West Brom 5-5 Man Utd
Sir Alex Ferguson was given a farewell to remember, but certainly not for the right reasons as the Romelu Lukaku-led hosts battled back from three goals down to earn an unlikely point