Football
Dermot Corrigan, Madrid correspondent 5y

Real Madrid's Solari defends Bale, Kroos after latest Clasico loss

Real Madrid coach Santi Solari again rued his team's missed chances after a second Clasico loss in four days as Barcelona won 1-0 in Saturday night's La Liga match at the Bernabeu.

Ivan Rakitic's first-half goal was the difference between the teams, although Barca were mostly comfortable throughout against a Madrid team looking low on energy and ideas.

The Blancos coach put a brave face on things at the post-game news conference, claiming his team had battled well in a very even game but just lacked that finishing touch - just as he had said when Barca won 3-0 at the Bernabeu in Wednesday's Copa del Rey semi-final second leg.

"What we lacked was to finish the chances we made," Solari said. "We tried in every way, battled hard, showed ourselves a team. It was a very close game. We did what we had to do in many areas, but we just could not score a goal."

Given a rare start Gareth Bale did very little to impress, and was again whistled loudly when replaced around the hour mark.

"Bale tried, just like all the team," Solari said when asked about the Welsh galactico. "We do not talk about individuals, it is a team sport. They all battled hard, worked hard."

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An underperforming Toni Kroos was also replaced early for the third time in four LaLiga games. Solari used a question about the Germany international to talk about how replacement Fede Valverde, 20, and other younger players, are now Madrid's future.

"[Kroos] like the rest of the players, they all tried their best," he said. "Valverde is a young player, making his first steps in the game, like Vinicius [Junior], [Sergio] Reguilon and [Alvaro] Odriozola, who are called to be the future of the club."

Madrid remain in third place in the table, now 12 points behind leaders Barcelona with 12 games remaining.

"La Liga is always important, and you battle until the end, every game," Solari claimed. "The [points] distance does not matter."

Madrid's only chance of glory this season is now the Champions League, and start with a 2-1 first-leg advantage when Ajax visit the Bernabeu on Tuesday for a last 16 return leg. Solari said he hoped that his team would find their shooting boots for that game.

"Our fans show a lot of respect, and come here wanting to win," he said. "We couldn't do that today, but our next game is in just a few days. These things go in runs. Sometimes everything flies in, sometimes it doesn't. We will try everything so that what did not go in today, or on Wednesday, does in our next game. We will keep trying. What we cannot lose is this team play, solidity, commitment, and trying to create chances as we have been doing."

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