Sweet victory for Madrid match winner Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo had said things had to change ahead of Real Madrid CF's UEFA Champions League Group D opener against Manchester City FC – after it he hoped the hosts' dramatic 3-2 win, courtesy of his own last-minute strike, would help kick-start the Merengues' season. Meanwhile, Luka Modrić Gareth Barry and Yaya Touré all told UEFA.com they had been in a game to remember.

Cristiano Ronaldo, Madrid attacker

We've ended the game with the feeling of a job well done. We played well from the first whistle to the last. We could have scored a lot earlier and avoided that situation at the end. It was a crazy game. We were deserved winners. It is said that when achieving something takes more effort, it tastes sweeter when you get it, and that's what happened tonight.

We had to work hard, but our team always wanted to win. We felt we could score at any moment. José Mourinho spoke with us beforehand and told us that something had to change. We had a difficult match but managed to score three times against the champions of England. I hope this victory will now help us improve in the Liga. We haven't started well in that competition and we want that to change. 


Luka Modrić, Madrid midfielder


It was an amazing game and one that everyone could enjoy. There were so many twists and turns while the fans saw a lot of quality on the pitch. In the end we are happy as we showed our character and won the match. It was tough getting back into the game at the end but we managed it. Afterwards our coach said this was the Real Madrid that he knew. When you go out and play like that you can lose sometimes but tonight we won. I hope this game will lift us and we can start playing better and better as the season goes on.

Everything is great here and I am enjoying every moment. I came here to play in games like this. This was almost like a final – City were great opponents. The atmosphere was fantastic. The crowd were phenomenal and always behind us – we have to thank them for that. We started the season slowly but the atmosphere within the group was always great and it's going to get even better after tonight. 


Yaya Touré, City midfielder


I have to admit that Madrid are a great team and they made this a very difficult game for us. We were winning with five minutes to go but they struck twice before the end to take the win. We were always aware that they could respond as they were playing at home in front of their fans. It's not easy at all to come here and win.

It was a spectacular game and we have to congratulate our opponents – they deserved the three points. Personally, to be named Player Rater winner is an important prize especially with the likes of Ronaldo, Gonzalo Higuaín and Karim Benzema on the pitch. I'm still quite down though as we lost. I think we will continue to grow and learn after a night like this. It's important that we continue working hard because the games coming up for us in this competition are going to be very important.

Gareth Barry, City midfielder 


It was probably a great spectacle to watch with five goals but in the dressing room afterwards we were all deflated, especially after having played so well. We worked hard defensively and caught them on the break. When we got the second goal we knew there wasn't long left but we were playing in front of a big crowd and against a great team.

Conceding two late goals will take us a while to get over. The manager wanted us to play our normal game. We knew they would have the ball more as that's how they play and have always done so historically. Having said that, we knew we could score goals against them. It's tough when you lose your first match but we have confidence in our squad. We will need a couple of big wins now which I am sure we are capable of.