Luxemburgo safe for now, says Real's Butragueno

Real Madrid vice-president Emilio Butragueno says Vanderlei Luxemburgo's job as first team coach is not in immediate danger despite the humiliating 3-0 defeat by arch-rivals Barcelona.

The former Real Madrid striker stopped short of giving the Brazilian a full vote of confidence.

"The world of football is unpredictable and if you ask me about his job it is the same as if you ask me about mine," Butragueno was quoted as saying in sports daily Marca yesterday.

"Luxemburgo can sleep soundly about his future as far as the next game goes. You can't judge the ability of a coach on just one match."

Butragueno said Barcelona had fully deserved their emphatic victory at the Bernabeu, but said Real had been hampered by the fact that leading players like Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane had just returned from injury.

"It was one of the best Barcelona sides I have seen, but it is also true that we were not on form either. From the start they adopted a very offensive game plan, playing with three dynamic and talented forwards.

"We went into the game very stretched. We knew we had some injured players and that they had been out of action for a number of weeks and that took its toll in the end."