Owen at home

With so many other strikers in the Real Madrid squad, Owen found it difficult to get much time on the pitch earlier this season but now he has found a rich vein of form.

After coming on as a second-half substitute, Owen scored his fifth goal for Real, and his third in the Primera Liga, making him Real's joint leading scorer so far this season.

"I'm enjoying myself more all of the time," he told Marca. "At the start it was a bit complicated, when I was told Madrid were interested in me, I didn't have much time to take it in, it was all so quick.

"It is difficult to live and play in another country and I didn't have time to adapt, but everyone needs time to adapt and it's normal that things are now getting better.

"Every day I am happier with the decision I took," said Owen, who has scored his five goals in the last six games.

"I think I have had a good month, although two months ago it was hard as I was looking for a house and everyone had to get acclimatised," he said.

The goals Owen has scored have nearly all been winners - crucial strikes at an important time as Madrid try to pick up their form after a poor start to the season.

He explained: "The most important [goals] were against Dynamo Kiev and Valencia in the Bernabeu, they won the games and that makes them better - in Malaga we had already won the game."

With Owen putting serious pressure on Mariano García Remón to include him in Real's starting line-up, the former Liverpool-man is hoping that many more goals will soon come his way.

"It depends on how many games I play and also on my luck.

"I have been playing football since I was 17 in the Liverpool first team and I have always scored goals."

"My thing is scoring goals and it's the way I play. It is natural for me to score goals: I have always done so for Liverpool and England and now I'll do so for Real Madrid."

"We had an irregular start to the season and our most important immediate aim was to start winning matches.

"We are doing that now, but if we had had a better start we could have been better placed in both competitions.

"We need some good results in the next few games."

After Real's next match, at home to Albacete, Owen has two matches in the space of four days that he will surely be looking forward to already - the England international against Spain in the Bernabéu and then the small matter of Real's trip away to table-topping Barcelona.

Michael Owen Factfile
Nationality: England (65 caps, 28 goals)
Date of Birth: 14 December 1979 
Place of Birth: Chester
Height: 5' 8''
Weight: 10 13