Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti hailed his side after goals from Cristiano Ronaldo, Pepe and Karim Benzema gave them a well deserved 3-1 win over eternal rivals FC Barcelona in the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

Madrid had fallen behind to an early Neymar goal, but reacted well and dominated the second half to take all three points and move to within one point of Barca at the top of the table.

"I always thought our defensive problems had not been due to lack of quality. It is a question of sacrifice and of working hard. I have a serious and professional side, which knows what it means to play for Real Madrid," said Ancelotti, who hailed his players' ambition.

"We wanted to attack and use the wings and we won in the second half because we wanted to win," he assured the press after the game.

"This is an important win because we were playing a strong rival and we achieved our objective of cutting their lead. I am very satisfied," he said.

"We are in very good form at the moment, I don't know if we have found the key and there will be tough times ahead, but my idea is for us to play this style of football. I am proud of these players," concluded Ancelotti.

Barca coach Luis Enrique had to answer some more difficult questions, but as honest in his assessment of the game.

"We stopped creating chances and that cost us because of the opponent. The second goal came from a set piece and 3-1 from a clear mistake. They did us a lot of damage.

"This shows that there are other teams equal to or better than us," admitted Luis Enrique, who said he had no regrets about handing a surprise start to Luis Suarez after his four month suspension.

"I don't regret starting him. He did more than I hoped for. He was in good shape and played with rhythm," said the Barca coach who insisted his side had to improve in defense

"Losses are part of the learning curve. I hope that as a result of this defeat we cut down on errors. We have to talk about it as a team," said the Barca coach.