Alonso satisfied with AC draw

Alonso: Satisfied

Related links

Teams

• Real Madrid

Players

• Xabi Alonso

Also see

• Watch games on your PC
• Champions League on Sky
• Video highlights

Xabi Alonso felt Real Madrid's 1-1 draw at AC Milan was a good result.

The former Liverpool star saw his new club go ahead through Karim Benzema on the half-hour.

But Milan hit back through Ronaldinho just minutes later as he converted from the penalty spot.

Alonso admits Real are still in good shape in Group C, despite only a point separating them from Marseille in third place.

"It was important [not to lose], we knew that it could be a very bad result - and if we had won that would have been great," Alonso told Sky Sports News.

"Now we have a chance maybe to go through if Milan beat Marseille, but a draw is not bad at all.

"We were in control of the last quarter of the pitch, we have defended quite well but we haven't been able to score and that is a shame as we could have won here."

Ronaldo miss

Alonso admits that Cristiano Ronaldo's absence is a blow, but he insists they have to overcome this.

"Of course Ronaldo is a really important player for us," he said.

"But whoever is playing is important and you have to get on with injuries and suspension so hopefully he will be back soon and that will be a real boost."

Alonso also played down the continued speculation surrounding the future of coach Manuel Pellegrini.

"We know that expectations are really high," he said.

"Whenever you have a bad a result, criticism comes but we are living with that and we are not surprised by that but we have to be focused."

Pellegrini himself insisted that Real could easily have won the game.

"We played a good first half with a good attitude, we had 16 shots," Pellegrini said.

"We had a lot of control of the game but second half it was a bit more complicated. At the end there were a couple of chances to get the three points which we would have deserved."