Madrid point pleases Pepe

Real Madrid defender Pepe was thrilled his side secured their passage to the Champions League last-16, with a draw at Manchester City.

Madrid’s 1-1 result away at Etihad Stadium on Wednesday secured second spot in Group D following Ajax’s heavy loss to Borussia Dortmund, and Pepe was pleased with his side’s progress.

“I think in a difficult group like this, it’s good to qualify for the knockout stages,” Pepe told the UEFA website.

“We’ve achieved our objective. This was quite a tough group with teams who were all domestic champions and it’s hard for any team to stand out, but happily we’ve managed to get through to the next phase.

“We worked hard today (Wednesday) against City who are a good team. We played a good first half at a tough ground. We had a good tempo going but in the second half we weren’t as good as we’d have hoped, though, we still came away with a draw and qualification.”

Madrid will resume La Liga action away against Betis on Saturday.