United's De Gea determined to deny Madrid again

Having played a starring role in Manchester United FC's 1-1 draw with Real Madrid CF, goalkeeper David de Gea told UEFA.com he will be determined to do the same when the teams meet again.

by Paul Bryan & Roberto Hernández

from James Uzondu

David de Gea

Manchester United FC goalkeeper David de Gea may still be looking for a first victory against Real Madrid CF after six attempts, but the former Club Atlético de Madrid No1 told UEFA.com he was leaving his native city a happy man after several of his stunning saves played a significant role in his team achieving a 1-1 first-leg draw. Ryan Giggs, meanwhile, feels it is still all to play for when the round of 16 tie concludes at Old Trafford on 5 March after goals from Danny Welbeck and Cristiano Ronaldo in Wednesday's opener.

David de Gea, United goalkeeper
We are happy with the draw. We could have won, we could have lost, but I think in the end a draw was the fair result. The eliminator is wide open. I was delighted to have been chosen as the [UEFA.com Player Rater] winner. I have to continue trying to do well. Let's see if I can manage the same in the return leg.

We knew that Madrid were very strong on the counterattack and that we would have to close the spaces and defend well. We achieved that along with putting in a good performance. We are expecting a difficult return encounter – Madrid know they have to score and have to win. We are expecting them to come at us. I felt really good on my return to Spain, but I am also leaving very happy. 

Ryan Giggs, United midfielder
Real Madrid have a good team so we're relatively pleased to come here and get a 1-1 result. There are plenty of positives we can take from tonight. We scored that all-important away goal. We also defended really well. When you come to a place like this you are always going to have to defend because of the quality they have. We have quality too and we knew we had goals in us with the team that was picked.

David de Gea has been good all season, but especially in the past few weeks, when he has been making a lot of saves. It was great for him to come back to Madrid and put in a fine performance. Danny [Welbeck] was brilliant all night, too, and was causing them all sorts of problems. Cristiano [Ronaldo's] goal was a great header, a fantastic leap. We know first hand just how dangerous he is. It's still all to play for and anything can happen in the second leg. Both teams are capable of scoring goals. Hopefully we can defend like we did tonight and create a few more chances. 


Michael Carrick, United midfielder
Both teams had chances. We had enough opportunities to maybe score more goals. They will feel the same. In the end we can be quite satisfied with a 1-1 draw. We have to do much the same in the return leg; it's going to be close at Old Trafford, too. It will be a similar game to tonight. It won't be easy for either team, but we are in a decent position now. We played well overall. We defended well and created chances, so we can feel quite pleased with our performance.