Real Madrid midfielder Xabi Alonso believes that the Santiago Bernabeu faithful enjoyed their lunch-time kick-off against Osasuna on Sunday.

For the first time in the club’s history, Los Blancos featured in a Primera Division fixture at 1200 CET at the Bernabeu when they played host to the Pamplona outfit.

However, the unusual timing of the kick-off did not affect the crowd attendance as the tickets were sold out and Madrid registered a comprehensive 7-1 victory, thanks to a Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick and a Karim Benzema brace.

After the match, Alonso underlined the overall success of the mid-day kick-off but admitted that the win against 10-man Osasuna was not as easy as it looked.

“Osasuna pressurised well in the first half, but we scored in key moments of the game,” said the Spanish midfielder on Madrid’s official website. “It was tougher than what the score leads one to believe.

“We had to get used to the idea of playing at this time because we’re not accustomed to it, but I believe it didn’t show on the pitch and I saw people were really into it.

“We can’t draw a negative conclusion: we enjoyed ourselves and so did the people on the stands.”

Madrid remain at the top of the table and move to 28 points from 11 matches, three ahead of second-placed and defending champions Barcelona.

Source: Goal