Zinedine Zidane thinks Real Madrid deserved a draw against Espanyol
By Ben Sundock
Tuesday’s 0-1 loss to Espanyol was back-breaking for Real Madrid who saw a five-match win streak come to an end. Here is what an unhappy Zinedine Zidane had to say after the loss.
All quotes come via the Real Madrid official website.
Opening Statement
"“We were lacking a little bit in all departments. We made a bright start and had some chances to score, but our second-half display was worse than the opening 45 minutes. We didn’t manage to play at all or offer any sort of threat in the second half, although we didn’t deserve to lose the game. Espanyol created few chances. It’s a defeat that hurts and it’s a poor result. I feel sorry for the players.”“At times, there’s no understanding football. We dropped further back for some spells in the second half but you’ve got to accept these tough times. At no point in the second half did we do well. After five good results, today we didn’t manage to extend the run.”"
Why was Sergio Ramos playing so high up the pitch?
“When there’s not long left and it’s 0-0 anything can happen. We always look to go for the win and today we didn’t get it. They scored a goal in the last minute, but there’s no need for us to go over it again. We didn’t deserve to win or lose.”
Thoughts on Neymar’s injury
“I don’t know what’ll happen. We have to wait and see. We know that he’s picked up an injury and we do not know if he’ll be ready for the match against us or not.”
More from The Real Champs
- Manchester City hold talks over Real Madrid target
- Real Madrid player confirms he is playing with a fracture
- Real Madrid superstar rejected Premier League clubs confirmed
- Spaniard ready to join Real Madrid instead of Liverpool
- PSG want €100 million Real Madrid player to replace Kylian Mbappe
My thoughts
While not all the blame can be placed on Zinedine Zidane, he deserves at least some of it. And based on his post-match comments, it is clear that he was very frustrated with his decisions and the outcome of the match.
While he may say the team didn’t deserve the three points or suffering a defeat like they did, there is no doubting that this was not a Real Madrid team that was going to get an easy win.
One thing that is very puzzling to me is the decision to not bring Ronaldo on the trip at all. Yes, resting the aging forward is important, he has been the goalscoring leader for this team in recent weeks. Couple that with the way Espanyol has played at home against FC Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, it is bizarre CR7 wasn’t included in the squad list.
The substitutions are another thing I don’t understand. Why substitute in Karim Benzema and Borja Mayoral when neither has proven in the past they can score goals in crunch time. Mayoral hasn’t played since the Copa Del Rey and Benz has only scored twice in La Liga since November.
Next: Three takeaways from Real Madrid’s loss to Espanyol
While I still have faith in Zidane and his managerial ability, this loss is very worrisome. As the saying goes, one step forward, two steps back. That is exactly what this loss was for Real Madrid.