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Ronaldo, Torres's emotions in sharp contrast in Madrid Cup derby

Xinhua, January 16, 2015 Adjust font size:

Atletico Madrid striker Fernando Torres and Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo had differing emotions after Atletico knocked their neighbors out of the last 16 of the Spanish King's Cup on Thursday night.

An evening which had begun with Real Madrid being welcomed to the Santiago Bernabeu by thousands of cheering fans and Ronaldo presenting his Balon D'or award to those supporters before kickoff, quickly turned sour, when Torres opened the scoring for Atletico just a minute into the game. [ That goal left Real Madrid needing to score four goals in order to qualify and although Sergio Ramos pulled a goal back after 20 minutes, his error in the first minute of the second half allowed Torres to net his second of the night.

Ronaldo's goal later on ensured honors were equal on the night, but Atletico went through 4-2 on aggregate in a competition, which suddenly lost all meaning for the Portuguese forward.

"The League and the Champions League are more important," said Ronaldo, who was also critical of Atletico's style of play.

"Atletico don't play attractive football. They are very defensive and wait for set pieces," he commented.

Ronaldo also said that he was struggling with a physical problem. "Maybe I'm not in perfect condition, but I will be. The knee issue is in the past. I'm used to playing with pain. In two or three weeks I'll be fine," he said.

The Real Madrid players comments were in stark contrast to Torres, who returned as a hero to Atletico Madrid on January 5 and who left the pitch on Thursday with a huge smile on his face after netting his first ever goals in the Bernabeu.

"The smile is for winning and for scoring my first two goals and for doing it in a stadium where I hadn't before," he commented.

Torres was helped in both of his goals by Antoine Griezmann, whose pace was a constant threat to Real Madrid.

"He needs to be allowed to develop. He's a very important player for us and he will be even more so in the future," said Torres, whose side is still alive and kicking in three different tournaments.

"We want to keep advancing in all competitions and we should enjoy this because it's a result to make you happy. At the moment I am at 200 percent," he said. Endi