Real Madrid coach Juande Ramos refuted suggestions that he asked his players to be over-aggressive in their tackles towards Barcelona wonder-kid Lionel Messi. Messi produced a typical brilliant performance and scored Barcelona's second against Real in the Spanish Classico played on Saturday. "Messi will always play with the ball at his feet and therefore he's more likely to get injured, but there was no form of aggressiveness against him," Ramos was quoted by Real's oficial website. Despite the 2-0 defeat, Ramos remained satisfied with his players' overall contribution. "The players did what they had to do with pride and generosity and we came close to a better result. "However, Barcelona capitalized on the chances they had and we didn't, so they got the three points." Real are now lying fifth in La Liga table, 12 adrift of leaders Barcelona. Nonetheless, Ramos underminded the massive gap in points and standings. "Of course Barcelona have a substantial lead, but we're still early in the season. "There are still a lot of league games to be played and much will depend on what other teams do." The Barcelona defeat was Ramos first league game in charge of Real, as the former Sevilla coach took over last week following the sacking of Bernd Schuster.
