De Boer frustrated as Ajax miss their mark

Frank de Boer, Ajax coach
I thought we played very badly. We never reached our level and when you fail to do that there is no way you can beat opponents like Real Madrid. With the score at 2-1 we had chances, including a great one to equalise, but we didn't deserve parity to be honest. Madrid are all stars, with four world and European champions. I wanted to see our style, and tonight I'm afraid I didn't.

I am frustrated and not just a little bit. Before the match we told them: 'reach your potential'. They got nowhere near it, especially at the beginning. After it went 2-1 there was little hope, but we didn't deserve anything. This is very disappointing, especially as the space was there to play well.

Whether we showed too much respect or not, it certainly was not good enough. We gave the ball away too easily – against the most dangerous counterattacking side in the world that is asking for trouble. But I remain convinced that we are capable of playing well against Madrid.

José Mourinho, Madrid coach
We controlled the game for 75 minutes. Until Ajax scored I was very impressed with my team. Considering we were playing a side that were very well organised and playing in a very compact manner, we did really well. We lost a little bit of that control when they scored and the game turned dangerous for us.

We did managed to resolve it with two goals. We won, we won in a group that is no joke; it's a very serious section we are in. Having two wins and six points at this stage we can feel a little calmer about things, but not too calm.

It's my task to get the best out of my players. [Sergio Ramos] played very well tonight. He's put in three very good performances since [he was left out] against Manchester City. This was also a game that played towards the characteristics of Kaká. Having to choose [who plays in future games] is not a problem for me, it's my job. Kaká and Mesut Özil looked good this evening.