Becks dismisses rough treatment claims

David Beckham has dismissed suggestions that he was singled out for rough treatment during Real Madrid’s Primera Liga victory over Villarreal yesterday.

The England captain did admit, however, he was unhappy with the challenge from defender Rodolfo Arruabarrena that left him with another gash on his ankle during Real’s 2-1 win at the Bernabeu.

“I’ve got a cut ankle again, but it’s no real problem and there are no stitches,” said Beckham.

“It was the number three (Arruabarrena), it was a challenge I wasn’t happy with.

“But I didn’t think they (the Villarreal players) behaved any differently towards me as the game went on.”

Madrid moved into a 2-0 lead courtesy of goals from Ronaldo and Santiago Solari but were made to sweat late on after Sergio Ballesteros pulled a goal back for the visitors.

Beckham, who was sent off in the midweek Copa del Rey clash against Valencia, was careful not to pick up another booking that would have landed him a one-match suspension.

“Of course I don’t want another yellow card but you can’t always guarantee that in football,” he said.

“I think we’ve got to be happy with it because it was always going to be a difficult game, we were tired going into it but we showed a lot of character and strength.”

Meanwhile, Villarreal coach Benito Floro admitted he was unhappy with his side’s display.

“We improved after their second goal but you could see we didn’t have much impact going forward,” he said.