The interim manager believes his side’s turnaround is down to the efforts of the players rather than his influence
Santiago Solari doesn’t believe he’s responsible for Real Madrid’s remarkable turnaround in his three games in charge and credited his players’ “desire to score” as the main reason behind three wins on the bounce.
Solari took charge at a low point for the Spanish giants, with the club having taken a brutal 5-1 beating at the hands of rivals Barcelona before sacking previous boss Julen Lopetegui. But Solari has righted the ship with three consecutive victories and his side having held clean sheets in all three of those matches .
The run continued with a 5-0 win over Viktoria Plzen on Wednesday in the Champions League. Karim Benzema scored a fine solo effort to open the scoring and take his Madrid tally to 200, and he added another as Casemiro, Gareth Bale and Toni Kroos also got on the scoresheet.
“You can’t ask for much more. The team has done it. The players scored spectacular goals and were very serious,” Solari said to Movistar following another dominant showing.
“We’ve done a lot of things well [in his three matches], but above all I see the seriousness and the desire to score. So many can be scored with players of such quality.
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“If you win 5-0 there will be applause. All matches are different, you have to continue working with humility, sacrifice and ambition for your objectives and think about the next game.
“The players are the ones who have achieved this and they are the ones who deserve credit for the victory.”
Solari made it clear that goalkeeper Keylor Navas, who was relegated to the bench on Wednesday, has all his respect and admiration despite being replaced by Thibaut Courtois.
Navas started Madrid’s three European fixtures under previous boss Lopetegui but was among the substitutes for Wednesday’s victory, which saw the reigning champions rise to the top of Group G, but Solari said he’s made the choice to go with Courtois.
“It’s a decision I’ve made.
“But I have to say that Keylor is a man and has all my admiration as a footballer and respect as a man.”
Real Madrid now sit level with Roma at the top of their group and will look to continue their winning run with a La Liga clash against Celta Vigo on Sunday.
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