Boss happy with youngsters

Saturday's 2-0 win against Bilbao was the perfect tonic for Real Madrid, who needed three points to alleviate their precarious league standing.

Goals from Raul Gonzalez and Santiago Solari handed the Madrilenos a win that puts them on eight points from the seven games played so far. Afterwards, team coach Vicente Del Bosque praised the three youth team stars of Raul Bravo, Francisco Pavon and Valmiro Lopes 'Valdo' for their performances standing in for the absent international players. "They're good players and they put in a fantastic game helped by an exemplary display from the first team veterans.

We've gained three valuable points, firstly to help us in the classification but I was also pleased by the manner in which we won.

"Athletic are a good side who tried to control the game but they lacked depth and that's what made them the inferior side on the night. It bodes well for us for our next two matches in the Canary Islands on Wednesday and on Saturday at Alavés," he said.

Real are in 13th position in the table with eight points and would need to double their tally to match leaders Real Betis, who go top with 16 points after beating Alavés 1-0 on Sunday.