Real Madrid's Karim Benzema from France, right, celebrates his goal with Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal, center, during a Spanish La Liga soccer match against Sevilla at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid (Photo: AP)
Real Madrid midfielder Sergio Ramos believes that Saturday's 4-1 win over Seville in the Spanish La Liga will encourage his team in their upcoming clash with Manchester United, describing the recent match as "great training" for the looming Champions League encounter.
The Whites suffered a surprise defeat to Granada last week in La Liga's 22nd match-day before managing to beat Seville.
"After the last game, and the interruption of playing for the national squad, we really wanted to put the Granada result behind us," Ramos was quoted as saying on the club's official website on Sunday.
"We did just that against Seville, a team that generally cause us problems," he said.
"We are pleased with ourselves, even though Seville is a team I personally have much affection for," Ramos added.
Real Madrid are set to face Manchester United in the 16th round of the European Champions League on Wednesday.
"This win is just what the team needed, although Champions League matches are very different since all the teams taking part are first-class," Ramos said.
"Wednesday's game against Manchester will be a tough one, but we're feeling good about it," he added.
Assistant coach Karanka praised the performance of Cristiano Ronaldo in particular, who scored three goals in the 4-1 win over Seville, urging the Real Madrid star to maintain his high-octane performance.
"It's important that a player like Cristiano Ronaldo maintains this level [of performance]," the tactician concluded.
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