Zinedine Zidane was not happy to see Real Madrid lose 3-1 to Paris Saint-Germain in their first summer friendly but ‘we only started 10 days ago.’
Madrid were soundly beaten by Unai Emery’s Ligue 1 champions in the friendly in Ohio, though a youthful XI, including Enzo Zidane, the Coach’s son, performed better after the break.
“There were some good things about the game, but we’re lacking physically. We only started 10 days ago. I’m happy with the work, but not the defeat, of course. We can never lose. Even a friendly. This is Madrid. But we’ll pick up the pace and then La Liga is very long and we have to start well,” Zidane said post-match, AS reports.
“Maybe we lacked a little aggression for a strong rival. Especially in the first half. We had the ball and we had chances. Tactically we have to work more and find the automatic moves. We’ll do it little by little.”
Madrid lined up with a system closer to 4-4-2 than their usual 4-3-3, Jese and Alvaro Morata in the attack in the first half and youngsters Mariano and Enzo in the second, but Zidane confirmed the front three would return when Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale are back.
“We know that during the year we are going to play with the BBC and in pre-season we prepare things. We prepared for this game with a front two. First Morata and Jese and then Mariano and Enzo. I’m happy,” Zidane added.
“Jese’s future? I don’t know. Today we had a game and he has just played. We’re working. I can’t say anything more. James Rodriguez looks good and we’re happy he’s here. Karim has some discomfort in his back but nothing major.
“You never know when you’ll need your squad. There are times we will have to use them. When they get a chance they’ll take advantage. They’re still young, you can’t make a revolution, but they're in the routine of the first team.”
