Real Madrid centre back, Pepe, has responded to Xavi's assertion that his team "live on the counterattack", after Barcelona lost El Clasico on Saturday.
See what happened in El Clasico in our match report.
Madrid beat Barcelona 3-1 in an exciting encounter and the Spanish midfielder claimed that his team were beaten by Carlo Ancelotti's team because they "live on the counter-attack". Pepe responded to the criticism by claiming that his team were the better team, as confirmed by cheers from the stands at the Bernabeau.
"I don't think that that is so. Our supporters chanted 'olés' and that says it all. We played after having one day less of recovery than them and showed them our class. We have to continue with humility," the Portuguese defender told reporters after the match.
The 31-year-old, who scored Real Madrid's second goal, explained that his celebration was simply to remind fans that Real Madrid's 10th European Cup was not won by accident. He then added that Real Madrid are a better team than they were last season.
"In the second half we went out with a winning mentality and we turned the game around because we had the desire to do it. I remind everyone that the 'Décima' did not arrive by accident.
"We are stronger because we have a better understanding of the coach's mentality. With time our movements on the pitch are becoming more automatic. We demonstrated it today.
"Today we did not start well and they scored after three minutes, but we reacted, we had chances to equalise, we got it back to 1-1 and we could have taken the lead before half-time. But what's important is what we did in the second half and we were better," he concluded.
Real Madrid, currently one point behind Barcelona and Sevilla, will be looking to claim top spot in La Liga when they take on Granada on Saturday at 17:00.
Do you think Real Madrid's playing style was based purely on counter-attacking football? Have your say in the comments section below.
