Casillas delighted with Madrid upturn

Iker Casillas has expressed his delight with Real Madrid’s turnaround under Zinedine Zidane and hopes for a prosperous union between the two.

Casillas ended 25 years of service to Madrid last summer under acrimony as he was seemingly forced out of the club, amidst reports of tension between him, a section of madridistas and Florentino Perez, but he admits Los Blancos’ late rally for La Liga and the Champions League has yet to sink in.

“I hope [Zinedine] Zidane succeeds,” the Porto goalkeeper said at a promotional event on Monday.

“We all enjoyed his football career and hopefully we have a Coach who will give many joys and glories to Madrid.

“I don’t know [how the Barcelona dressing room is feeling] because I’ve never been in it.

“When the ball doesn’t want to go in, it’s suddenly a crisis. If you told me three weeks ago that this was going to happen, I wouldn’t have believed it.

“I’m glad because Madrid are nearby and can fight for the title, when it seemed impossible a few weeks ago.

“[On his retirement], I’ll play for as long as I enjoy it, but I don’t have Indiana Jones’ holy water to play forever.

“Yes [on Madrid being CL favourites]. The champions have been eliminated, and both Madrid and Bayern are possibly the two strongest teams left, but seeing how Atleti and City have played in big games, all four are capable of winning the trophy. Hopefully it’s Madrid.

“[On Alvaro Arbeloa and Gerard Pique’s feud], I read what [Carles] Puyol had to say, and he was sensible and consistent [with his view].

“Arbeloa defends his interests and so does Pique, but sporting rivalry is like that. If they sat here, it’d be a different experience.”

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