After Sunday’s 1-1 draw in the Madrid Derby, Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane was disappointed his team could not manage to secure all three points. Here is what Zizou had to say after the match.
All quotes come via the Real Madrid official website.
Opening Statement
"“I’m happy with the match and how we performed because we clearly deserved more. It was a shame we didn’t get more from it but we could have even lost the game at the end. In the first half we created chances but we didn’t score, then in the second we got the goal, but they made it difficult for us for 10 minutes after the goal and they leveled things up.”“We would like to and are going to try to reduce the gap on second place. It wasn’t possible today. We had a lot of chances and we did enough to win, but we didn’t get over the line. It’s a shame that we didn’t get the three points.”"
What will the defensive line look like against Juventus
“I’m not sure yet. [Jesús] Vallejo had a setback yesterday after training and we didn’t want to risk him. Hopefully it’s not serious and he’ll be with us on Wednesday. If he’s not available, we’ll have a look at how we line up.”
Why was Cristiano Ronaldo taken out of the match?
“We’ve got a lot of games and from time to time he has to rest and that’s it. He’s clever and there are times when you have to rest. Nowadays he needs it and every time it does him good, you can see.”
“Cristiano has always been that way, netting 60 goals per season. There is no-one else like him, but in this team there are a lot of goal scorers so that’s a positive. It is always better for us to have Cristiano Ronaldo in the side.”
What do you think of people calling your team the favorites to win the UCL?
I’m not interested in any of that. We have to think about Wednesday’s game and do everything possible to get through. I’m not bothered about the past, just Wednesday night. We have to be driven, focused, not thinking about other things.”
“Everyone is under some kind of illusion that we’re already in the semi-finals and we mustn’t think like that. On Wednesday, we are going to be put to the sword and we need to get through it. We’ll try our best, we’ve gone through the whole season to get to this point.”
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Thoughts on Jan Oblak’s performance
“He is sensational, but he is not my player. He shows his quality in every game and did really well to stop Sergio’s free-kick.”
Thoughts on Antoine Griezmann’s performance
“He scored against us and did well for his team, plays well for his country but again he is not one of mine. He is not my player.”
My thoughts
I think Zidane made the right move pulling Cristiano Ronaldo out of the match just after the hour mark despite the match being tied.
It is obvious that FC Barcelona will win the league this year and there is not much left to fight for in this season. While many fans may be disappointed by this move, winning the Champions League has been and will continue to be the priority of this club and the coaching staff.
Real Madrid is all but guaranteed a top-four finish, which will automatically qualify them for next year’s UCL. So, rotating the squad and letting some of the guys who don’t get regular minutes play should be the focus moving forward in these final six matches.
Next: Real Madrid 1-1 Atletico Madrid: Key takeaways from the Derby
I find it pretty funny that there were no questions regarding Gareth Bale after he played and performed well against a stout Atleti defense.
The Welsh international paired up nicely with CR7 on the forward line and provided a beautiful assist to put Real in front in the second half.
While Zizou says he is disappointed with the result, his team still picked up a point and played very well. It is no mystery that these players and the manager are just going through the motions in La Liga and are keeping their focus on Juventus this Wednesday.
After all, it is the last possible trophy Los Blancos can win this season so why not dedicate all energy towards the competition?