Real Madrid went on another goal spree on Saturday night, thrashing Tenerife 5-1 away, but Manuel Pellegrini, their coach, is still looking for improvement from his star-studded team. That win on the Canary Islands followed on from last weekend's 6-2 demolition of Villarreal, and extended Real's winning streak in the Primera Liga to six games. It has been a hugely impressive run, but Pellegrini feels they are not the finished article.
"There's always room for improvement, we still aren't the perfect team. We need to contain the ball better in defence," said Pellegrini. Real are two points behind the leaders Barcelona, who needed a late Lionel Messi strike to beat Getafe 2-1 at home. Pep Guardiola felt his side were back to near their best after struggling to find top gear in recent matches. "We had probably one of our best games at home. We can say we've done well. We've been much better than in recent games," said the Barca manager.
In Italy yesterday, Inter Milan scored three first-half goals to beat Udinese 3-2 away and maintain their four-point lead at the top of Serie A. Mario Balotelli, Maicon and Diego Milito scored after Simone Pepe had given Udinese an early lead. Antonio Di Natale converted a penalty shortly after the restart, but Jose Mourinho's team held on for the win. Inter lead Serie A with 58 points, four ahead of AC Milan, who comfortably beat Atalanta 3-1. Roma, in third, lost ground in their pursuit of Milan with a 2-2 draw at Napoli, after throwing away a two-goal lead. They have 51 points.
* With agencies
