Few could blame Nacho Fernandez for playing the Madrid derby on Saturday night with an extra bit between his teeth, with the defender completing an excellent performance as a result. Not only was the Spaniard taking to the Estadio Vicente Calderon under the weight of history, having lost 4-0 on one of the most infamous nights of his career to date, but off the back of a wind up from rival Koke. The Atletico Madrid midfielder made an off the cuff remark while training with the Real Madrid man ahead of Spain's friendly with England that required a big performance on the pitch to fully answer."Let's see if you try this hard in the derby," Nacho joked to Koke as they completed a short passing session. "At least I'll play," replied the Rojiblancos star, within earshot of Cuatro's microphones.
In fact, Nacho did play due to Sergio Ramos' failure to fully recover from a knee injury, and put in a top display which strangled opposition striker Fernando Torres, completing almost 95 percent of his passes and four interceptions. Real Madrid reached another milestone in Saturday's night game at the Estadio Vicente Calderon - Keylor Navas's first victory in a Madrid derby - something that pleased the custodian no end. The 29-year-old goalkeeper had not beaten Atletico in 90 minutes of football and his great performance helped Los Blancos to extend their lead at the top of LaLiga. "We played an effective, complete and good game," he said afterwards. "These victories are really important to continue growing and giving us more confidence on the pitch. "I am very happy as the team is in a good moment and we are reaching our aims step by step. "More than that, I'm delighted that we didn't concede any goals." The derby victory means that the Costa Rican and his defence managed to keep a second clean sheet in succession.
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