Real more at home in European competition, says Carlos

Real Madrid fullback Roberto Carlos believes that the side's 3-1 win over Porto in the Champions League is proof that they are more at home playing in European rather than domestic competition.

Real bounced back from a comprehensive 2-0 defeat at Valencia in the Primera Liga at the weekend to claim a morale-boosting victory over the Portuguese champions in Group F on Wednesday.

"We are given more space when we play in Europe," said the Brazilian international. "In Spain our opponents show us more respect -- they defend in numbers and play on the break.

"In Europe teams come out to play against us. We aren't given that advantage in our own league."

Real looked as if they were still suffering from the hangover of the Valencia defeat when they took to the pitch at the Das Antas stadium and fell behind to a Costinha header after seven minutes.

But although they came under severe pressure for the first 25 minutes, the nine-times European champions fought back strongly to claim a comprehensive away win.

Midfielder Ivan Helguera headed home the equaliser just before the half-hour mark after good work by Santiago Solari, and the Argentine, who was outstanding throughout, grabbed one for himself to put Real ahead before the break.

Real, missing the injured David Beckham in midfield, found their feet in the second half and made sure of the victory when Zinedine Zidane volleyed home a free-kick from Luis Figo on 66 minutes.

Carlos said the criticism that the team had received following their weekend league defeat helped sting them into reaction after the early Porto goal.

"No one likes being slated like we were the other day," he said. "We all knew that it was time to turn in a good performance and we did just that. We suffered at the start, but then showed our experience at playing in this competition."

Real now lead the group on a maximum six points, three ahead of Marseille, whom they beat 4-2 in their opening group match at the Bernabeu.

"If we can beat Partizan (Belgrade) in our next game we will practically be assured of going through to the next round," said Carlos.