Portuguese admits Spanish giants were lucky to beat Manchester United.
Real Madrid head coach Jose Mourinho heaped praise on Manchester United despite the defeating the runaway Premier League leaders in the Uefa Champions League at Old Trafford on Tuesday night.
The La Liga title holders overcame Sir Alex Ferguson’s side 2-1 in the second leg of their European Cup last 16 tie to progress to the last eight of Europe’s premier club competition 3-2 on aggregate, after the first leg had been drawn 1-1 in the Spanish capital three weeks ago.
However, the whole match turned on one controversial incident in the second period when with the home side having only just taken a deserved lead just after the half time interval through a Sergio Ramos own goal, United’s Portugal international winger Luis Nani was shown a straight red card by Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir for a studs up high challenge on Madrid full back Alvaro Arbeloa.
And, with the Red Devils subsequently then reduced to only ten men, the Spanish giants took full advantage of their numerical supremacy by scoring two goals in the matter of minutes to win the tie, firstly through former Tottenham Hotspur midfield player Luka Modric’s long range drive, before ex-United star Cristiano Ronaldo tapped home the winner from close range.
“Independent of the decision, the best team lost. We didn’t deserve to win but football is like this,” Mourinho said in his post-match press conference.
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