Varane amazed at Real Madrid progress

Los Blancos' young centre-back is thrilled with the way he has broken into the first team this season, and believes he will face a tough battle against Burak Yilmaz


Real Madrid defender Raphael Varane has expressed his delight at the progress he has made in the first team this season.

The France international has missed just one of los Blancos’ eight Champions League matches this season, and the former Lens youngster has stressed the importance of continuing to improve at what he perceives to be a pivotal point in his career.

"This is a very important stage in my career and is great experience. It is a huge bonus for me to be playing and let us hope I can continue to advance,” he told a press conference.

“Last year I was working on a day-by-day basis and never imagined such a quick advance into the first team, but I will continue working hard in order to continue to get better."

Varane has warned his team-mates of the attacking threat posed by Galatasaray, and believes he will face a tough battle with the tournament's joint-top scorer Burak Yilmaz when the sides meet on Wednesday.
"Galatasaray have no fear of playing against us. They are going to attack us and are capable of creating problems," he continued.

“That means we need to attack more than they do. We must look to create them more problems than they do us.

“We know [Burak] Yılmaz is a good player, a great attacker. He is quick and very physical. We will have to be aware of him and his movements."

"I am not nervous. I am aware of the pressure outside but I am focused on my task. At this level we have all to be focused because in any given moment they can create a problem, they can be very quick going forward.

“We have studied them. We will be looking to anticipate what they do. It will be an intense match and we will have to adapt to it."