Nacho Fernández played in the game against Leipzig at the Santiago Bernabéu in what was his 350th appearance for Real Madrid. The club captain, who is currently in his 14th season with the club had the following to say: “It wasn't our best game of the season, but we achieved our objective of qualifying. Sometimes you have bad games. They were terrific and we played well. We have to be pleased because we're in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.”

“On the whole it wasn't a good game. Not at the start, in the second half, or when we took the lead, we weren't able to stand up to them. They have a lot of potential, they come out very quickly on the counter and it wasn't our best day. But the objective has been achieved and we have to keep working, nobody said it was going to be easy.”

A hard-fought win
“When things aren't going your way, you have to fight. Playing games like today's make you improve and learn. Now we have to focus on the next one.”

Draws in recent matches
“It's a really long season and we've got a lot of games to play. We're in a very good position. We've just reached the quarter-finals and in the league we have a cushion that I think is pretty good. It might seem like a drama today because of the performance we put on, but we have to pick ourselves up and be proud of ourselves because we're in the next round.”

Any preferences in the quarter-finals?
“The important thing is that we're in a competition that is as difficult as the Champions League and at the same time so special for all of Real Madrid. Objective achieved.”

In his 350 appearances for the club, Nacho has won 24 trophies: Champions League (5), Club World Cup (5), Spanish Super Cup (5), Uefa Super Cup (4), LaLiga (3) and Copa del Rey (2). He is the longest-serving member of the first team squad at the club and has made 232 appearances in the league, 66 in the Champions League, 40 in the Copa del Rey, 7 in the Spanish Super Cup and 5 in the Club World Cup. The year in which he played the most games was last season (44) and the team he has faced the most times is Atlético Madrid (18).