No regrets for Ramos

No regrets for Ramos as Huntelaar hits form

Real Madrid coach Juande Ramos preferred not to speculate on what might have been if Klaas Jan Huntelaar had been registered for the Champions League instead of Lassana Diarra as the Dutchman continued his red-hot goalscoring form.

Madrid could only select one of their two winter signings for the remainder of their Champions League campaign as they had both played in the UEFA Cup for their previous clubs already this season, Huntelaar for Ajax and Diarra for Portsmouth.

In the end Madrid opted for holding midfielder Diarra, but the France international was unable to prevent the Spanish giants from tumbling out at the last-16 stage for the fifth successive year following a humiliating 5-0 aggregate defeat by Liverpool.

Diarra has been a big hit for Madrid since joining the club, but after a slow start it is now Huntelaar who is gaining all the headlines and he took his tally to eight goals in six matches with a brace in last night's 3-0 victory over Almeria.

It is impossible to tell how much of an influence Huntelaar would have made against Liverpool though, and Ramos was not keen to revisit that subject.

"The truth is we don't know what would have happened. If you remember, when the Champions League came around, Lass (Diarra) was playing at a very high level," said Ramos.

"They are two players who have helped us a lot and you have to congratulate them because they have adapted very quickly despite only arriving in December."

Ramos also shrugged off accusations of him being defensive-minded, pointing critics towards Madrid's recent run of results which has seen the reigning champions net 21 goals in their last six league games.

"It doesn't bother me that they say I'm a defensive coach, but I think we've had an average of more than three goals a game from the last six matches and those numbers speak for themselves.

"If I'm defensive tell me what I have to do to be attacking."

Soccernet.