Zinedine Zidane expressed his delight with the fruits of his rotation policy after Real Madrid’s 2-0 win at Espanyol in La Liga on Sunday.
Goals from James Rodriguez and Karim Benzema fired a Madrid side without Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale back to the top of the table, prompting Zidane to highlight the desire shown by “all” of his players.
“I’m happy, not only with James and Benzema but also the performance in general. The most important thing is the work they did together,” the Coach said after the game.
“I had to play [James] in the middle, behind Karim as a No 10. I saw him to be very well.
“I didn’t see [Ramos’ apparent handball], although I thought he was hit in the face.
“I’m happy with the changes because they all did great. We’re always going to rotate and we’ll continue to do so.
“I have 24 players available and they all have quality. There are 60 games remaining and all the players must be able to be changed. Thanks to the efforts of everyone, we’re doing very well.
“[Casemiro] took a very strong knock and we play in three days. We’ll evaluate him but continue with the idea of not risking anyone.
“I don’t know the differences to last year, but we had difficulties against them.
“They played very well, but away from home it’s always complicated. We’ll continue picking up points, and that’s what matters.”
The result also secured Madrid’s 16th La Liga win in a row – both a club record and joint-La Liga record.
“We’re happy,” he concluded.
