Karanka dismisses discipline issue

Aitor Karanka has rejected claims Real Madrid are too aggressive after the dismissals of Fabio Coentrao and Angel Di Maria against Valencia.

Real have now seen five players sent off since the winter break, with Antonio Adan, Sergio Ramos and Kaka preceding the aforementioned duo in a 1-1 Copa del Rey draw on Wednesday, but assistant coach Karanka feels his players are being treated unfairly.

“We don’t have aggressive players. The images are there for all to see. You only have to watch them to reach the right conclusion,” he told a press conference.

“The majority of the game was played without aggression, yet we have had Coentrao and Di Maria sent off. People have watched the match and they’ve all seen that we had two players sent off. It’s surprising.”

Madrid’s 3-1 aggregate victory set up a semi-final clash with either Malaga or Barcelona.