Karanka: We can compete with Barcelona

Real Madrid assistant coach Aitor Karanka believes Real Madrid's 1-1 draw with Barcelona in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final shows there remains little to choose between the sides despite their current Primera Division positions. Barcelona hold a 15-point advantage over the champions in La Liga, but Karanka was delighted with how his side competed tonight - even without the likes of Iker Casillas, Pepe, Sergio Ramos and Angel Di Maria. He said: "The real difference between the teams you see when we play. It is quite competitive. "It was a great effort from all of the team because there were a number of players out of position. "There will be time to prepare for the second leg, but the team are more than good enough." The real difference between the teams you see when we play. It is quite competitive. Real Madrid assistant coach Aitor Karanka Raphael Varane was Madrid's hero, heading home Mesut Ozil's cross nine minutes from time to cancel out Cesc Fabregas' 50th-minute opener. Karanka was full of praise for the young Frenchman, who also cleared a goalbound shot from Xavi off the line in the first half and produced a perfectly timed last-ditch tackle to prevent Fabregas adding a second when the score was 1-0. "It is not possible to have done better than Rafa did," Karanka said. "He cleared one off the line and scored the equaliser. "Following his progression has been phenomenal because he also had his head in the right place. With the team we have started with, everyone has done very well and we are happy with the match." Varane himself described the experience as a "dream" and believes all is to play for in the return leg on 27 February. He told AS: "It is a match I will always remember. It is a dream at 19 years of age. "I am happy with my performance and that of the team. Now we need to continue like this. Mourinho told me to give everything that I had and at the end my team-mates congratulated me. It is not the best result, but it leaves the tie open." Barcelona content with away draw Barcelona stand-in manager Jordi Roura, meanwhile, was also content with the result, although he does not believe it will give his team a big advantage for the second leg. He said: "I don't want to speak about punishment. Our lesson is that a draw at the Bernabeu is always a good result. "For us it is a good result but nothing clear. In the second leg we will go out to win because in the first leg we have done the same. "I said before that these games are very difficult and are resolved by very fine details. The tie will be decided in Barcelona." Roura insisted the Catalans were not surprised by the hosts' high-tempo start to the game, and felt Barcelona adjusted well after a shaky opening. "The media were saying that Madrid had a lot of players missing, but Madrid haven't been weak and we knew they wouldn't be," he added. "We knew Madrid are a strong and physical team and that they control the opening minutes more often than not. "At the beginning, we had problems but after that I think we had control of the game - or as much as you can control against Madrid." From FIFA