Morientes responds to Anelka: “the problem that Anelka had was Anelka himself”

Former Real Madrid striker Nicolas Anelka said a few days ago to RMC Sport that “In Madrid, it was the only place where I didn’t get along with the players. It was hell. The hard part was playing with Morientes.”

Anelka’s comments were curious, since a lot of his problems at that time seemed to have been self-inflicted.

Today in Cuatro, Fernando Morientes, who sometimes shared the field with Anelka under Vicente Del Bosque — and they certainly started together along with Raul in the Champions League final in Paris vs Valencia — responded to Anelka’s comments.

“I had a good relationship with him,” Morientes said. “I don’t know why he gets into those things. The bad thing is that in each interview he points to someone. Sometimes to Raúl, other times to me. Here he was well received but the problem that Nicolás Anelka had, it was Nicolás Anelka himself.”

Ultimately, Anelka did have success, and was a vital part of Real Madrid’s semi-final vs Bayern Munich in particular. But his overall career with Los Blancos was a disappointment.