Zinedine Zidane admitted Real Madrid “put themselves in it” after their slow start against Valencia on Wednesday.
Madrid lost crucial ground in the La Liga title race as they lost 2-1 to Valencia, courtesy of two goals for Los Che inside the first 10 minutes, and Zidane refused to look for excuses other than that his side “were punished”.
“Defensive mistakes? Yes, because the truth is that we lost the match in 10 minutes,” the Coach said after the match.
“We started well with the ball and had chances, but we made two mistakes and conceded two goals.
“We then had 80 minutes to get back into the game. We did, but we lacked many things today.
“There was an opportunity to pick up points and we didn’t. We were punished. They then shut up shop.
“Psychological effect of the defeat? I hope that none of us are affected. What we have to do is always be attentive. If you’re not focused, you get punished.
“We have to be a bit prompter [at the start of games]. In those 10 minutes, we weren’t ready or attentive.
“It was a good time for us to pick up points. I don’t want to criticise Valencia, they did well for 10 minutes and then they sat back. I congratulate them and now I’m thinking about Villarreal.
“Varane’s substitution? He was hurt, he had some discomfort and we took him off.
“We lacked focus off the ball, Zaza played between the lines and hurt us. We were very open and put ourselves ‘in it’ because of our bad control.
“We did well with the ball but lacked clarity in the last pass. A difficult League? We already knew it before the game. [The title race] wasn’t going to end today, not even if we won.
“Now it’s even harder for us. Only two teams could pick up points today and it was Valencia.
“We’re still top, we won’t look for excuses, it is what it is. Now we must rest and think about Sunday.”
