Drenthe and Robben eager for more

Royston Drenthe in action for Madrid (©Getty Images)

Having enjoyed a brief taste of UEFA Champions League action with Real Madrid CF, Royston Drenthe and Arjen Robben are keen to shine in next Wednesday's trip to S.S. Lazio.

by Paul Bryan from Madrid

Late arrival
The Dutch duo joined from Feyenoord and Chelsea FC respectively in the summer and made their competition bows for Madrid in the 2-1 home defeat of Werder Bremen on Matchday 1 last week. Drenthe entered in the 77th minute for Guti while Robben had to wait until four minutes from time to take over from Raúl González. The substitutions of the two Spanish favourites, who had played key roles in the victory, for the Dutch flyers underlined the new Oranje flavour at Madrid with Ruud van Nistelrooy and Wesley Sneijder also in action.

'I feel good'
Drenthe, who will not play in tonight's home game against Real Betis Balompié, when a win will send Madrid back to the top of the Primera División, spoke to uefa.com about the thrill of top-level European football. "Every player wants to play in the Champions League," he said. "I want to play well in all the games I play in. I'm only 20 so I want to grow as a player and as a person. By the end of the season I want to say to myself: 'Royston, you've made progress.'

Spanish lessons
"It's nice for me that there are so many Dutch people here, especially as I can't speak Spanish yet," he added. Thankfully there is no real problem as his new coach Bernd Schuster has found a common language. "He speaks English to the players who can't speak Spanish," Drenthe said. "In the short time I've been here it's been very nice. It's not difficult to live here. I've got a Spanish teacher. I think that in six months or a year I'll be able to speak Spanish well."

The warm welcome I got when I came on gave me a very special feelingArjen Robben

'Warm welcome'
Robben, who was making his first Madrid appearance in any competition, was equally happy to get a run-out. "I've been training for a very long time and I was happy I could make my debut," he said. "The warm welcome I got when I came on gave me a very special feeling. That's why you play. You play for the fans and you want to show them how good you are."

'Too early'
The 23-year-old knows he and Drenthe have a job on their hands to win a regular place with Madrid going so well. The nine-time winners appear likely to mount a serious European challenge again this season, but Robben is aware from experience just how hard it is to claim Europe's top club prize. "It's too early to talk about winning the Champions League," he said. "Every game is a new one for us and it's important that we focus on each one. We have a lot of quality here but we have to show it in every game."

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