Real Madrid coach Rafa Benitez praised his team's ability to "suffer" after Saturday afternoon's dramatic 3-1 win at Celta Vigo.
Madrid appeared to be strolling at 2-0 up through early goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Danilo, but even before the break Blancos goalkeeper Keylor Navas shone with four separate world class saves as Celta came roaring back into the game.
The Galician side played the last half hour with 10 men after centre-back Gustavo Cabral picked up a second booking for dissent, but were right back in the game after Nolito's super 25-yard thunderbolt.
After Marcelo's injury time strike had sealed the three points, the Blancos coach told his postmatch news conference that his team had not been at their best, but had shown character to come through and win.
"Today we made many chances, but we suffered as we did not get the third goal," Benitez said. "We must be positive and satisfied as [we] got great [a] result after [a] tough game on Wednesday. We can be happy with what we did well, and work on what we did not do well. The team showed character and quality, held on in the end, and took the three points against a very good team in a very difficult place to go."
Asked about Costa Rica international Navas, again Madrid's standout player, Benitez preferred to heap praise on his team's all-round performance in getting the three points at a ground where title rivals Barcelona were beaten 4-1 in late September.
"For me the best was the team, which scored three goals and made so many chances," he said. "After Wednesday, at PSG, to come here where big teams had lost, they were unbeaten. We played well, but knew how to suffer."
Benitez pointed to his team having arrived back from Wednesday's Champions League game in Paris in the early hours of Thursday morning, then being scheduled to play on Saturday afternoon in also far-away Vigo, as something which had affected his team's display.
"As I said before, we had just two days and a half [between games]," he said. "A surprise for us to play Saturday after Wednesday. I am sure that in coming weeks, other teams will have the same short turnaround time."
Madrid were again missing stars including Gareth Bale, James Rodriguez and Karim Benzema, meaning squad players like Casemiro, Lucas Vazquez and Jese Rodriguez once more played a full part in Madrid's second big away match in four days.
"These games, without injuries, have allowed us to use the squad," Benitez said. "To keep winning is very positive, not just for the results, but for the future -- to strengthen the group, which knows that suffering, creating chances, working hard, we can keep winning games and picking up points."