Di María vaunts Madrid squad after Lyon success

Forward Karim Benzema was delighted to make a scoring return to the Real Madrid CF team in Tuesday's 4-0 win for José Mourinho's side which left them top of Group D with maximum points from three games. Yet while Benzema's fellow attacker Ángel Di María was able to underline the strength of Madrid's striking options, Olympique Lyonnais' Michel Bastos could only rue the visitors' "worst performance of the season".

Karim Benzema, Madrid forward
We are very happy to have won this game. I recovered in the best way from my groin injury by scoring the first and giving a beautiful pass to Sami [Khedira] for the second. It's normal that we have competition among the strikers at this club, we see this as something that gives all of us confidence. [Gonzalo Higuaín] scored three goals for us twice in succession recently; we are both competing well at the moment.

We put Lyon under a lot of pressure tonight and put in a very good performance. It was almost exactly the same as it was against them here last season here [when Madrid won 4-1]. It's not just important to score goals, giving assists is also helpful. We passed the ball around well, we had time to do that while scoring four times; that's pretty good. José Mourinho was the same as he always is in the dressing room afterwards; he's a great coach. We have taken maximum points from three games and we will work hard to win again in the next match.

Xabi Alonso, Madrid midfielder
This was an important win as we knew beforehand that taking three points would help a lot in terms of qualification for the next phase. We played well. Lyon were very tight at the back and knew how to play patiently while waiting for their chances. Today [Karim] Benzema played; the other day it was [Gonzalo] Higuaín's turn. The most important thing is that both are currently scoring goals. I hope things continue like that.

Our objective is to win the next game [against Lyon] which would strengthen our position at the top of the standings. We have to secure qualification and after that good things will come.

Ángel Di María, Madrid winger
With nine points on the board, we know we now go to Lyon [with an advantage in the group] before facing Dinamo Zagreb at home and let's hope those games go as well as tonight's did. We played football with a lot of movement this evening. They waited deep in their own half looking to strike on the break. We controlled the ball well, though, and knew how to take advantage of our own counterattacks.

The team is playing at a really well and you don't notice who is coming in and out of the first XI because everything is working for us. It's important we continue in this way.

Aly Cissokho, Lyon defender
It's very clear that they are a strong team and better than us. Every space they found they attacked. We tried to play on the counter tonight but had few opportunities to get forward. Karim [Benzema] was the difference tonight; he has great technique and found openings quite easily. He's a lot faster than he used to be and bursts forward very quickly. Cristiano Ronaldo and Ángel Di María were also extremely busy and never made things easy for us. There are still games left for us to qualify from the group.

Michel Bastos, Lyon attacker
This was not a true reflection of who we are as a side; we didn't produce anything. Nothing went right for us. When we lost possession two or three Madrid players were always there waiting. The score is a fair one; congratulations to them. They have one of the best teams in the world. This was our worst game of the season.