Zinedine Zidane rued Real Madrid’s failure “to use their heads more” after Sunday’s last-gasp 3-2 defeat to Barcelona in the Clasico.
Madrid had Sergio Ramos sent off and sought to find the winning goal as opposed to settle for a 2-2 draw, and their risky approach backfired as Lionel Messi decided the showdown with its last kick.
“We can’t be happy, we did a lot, all through the game, we had a lot of chances to put the match in our favour,” the Coach said after the game.
“When you don’t kill off the game, it can pass you by and that’s what happened. We’re disappointed with the result.
“When you get to 2-2 with 10 men, you need to use your head a little more and defend closer together.
“We thought we could score the third goal, but we were out of place from a throw-in and what happened, happened.
“Barca’s third goal? We have to watch the game back, but it won’t change anything. There’s a lot more of the League still to play, but we have to think about our next game.
“Messi? He makes the difference in his team. He scored twice, but Barca aren’t just Messi.
“We didn’t control the moments when we could hurt our opponents well. The fact they hurt us was logical.
“Referees? I don’t want to know about any refereeing campaigns, the referee sent offf Sergio and you have to accept it.
“My assessment is that we weren’t able to kill the match and that's where we are disappointed.
“There are many games in which we’ve had many chances and not scored goals from them.
“That punishes you because in the end our opponents are very good teams that can do damage, and [Barca] did that.
“Still, I have no criticisms of my players. [The result] won’t change anything because we’re still relying on ourselves.
“We thought we could score the third goal. Drawing with 10 men and pushing up is dangerous, but I won’t criticise the way we went for the game.
“We’re disappointed because we didn’t deserve to lose, but football is like that. There’s no getting around it.
“League and the Champions League? [The result] won’t change anything we're doing. We played against a great team.
“We must rest and think about the next game because it still depends on us. We must be positive until the end of the season.
“It was an opportunity to pick up points, not win the League. Of course, it would’ve been better to win, but we didn’t and that's it.
“Bale’s injury? He told me he was fine and I don’t regret it at all. I’m disappointed for him. these things can’t be helped. He’ll be examined and I hope it’s something small.
“Chances? With the ones we had today and in other matches, we can kill matches off but haven’t done so. We have to keep working and we have to be clinical.”
