Real Madrid's Iker Casillas: We made things complicated for ourselves against Malaga in Copa del Rey

The experienced shot-stopper has admitted that Los Blancos didn't make things easy for themselves in Tuesday's cup clash and demanded more focus in the return game

By Stefan Coerts

Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas has expressed his dismay at his side's performance in the opening 45 minutes of Tuesday's 3-2 win over Malaga at the Santiago Bernabeu in the first leg of the Copa del Rey last 16.

Madrid failed to impress before the break and were trailing 2-0 at the interval, before goals from Sami Khedira, Gonzalo Higuain and Karim Benzema in the second period helped them to a hard-fought victory.

"We made things difficult for ourselves in the first half, but we played differently after half-time, looking for open spaces and a victory.

"Real Madrid will always try to do their best. We gave two goals away because we weren't experiencing many problems and we gave a good performance.

"We'll have the advantage in the return leg, but we cannot afford to relax."

The second leg takes place at La Rosaleda on January 10.


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