Zinedine Zidane issued a rallying cry to Real Madrid fans after Saturday’s Derbi stalemate. “Things change quickly in football and we’ll be there fighting.”
Madrid fell 10 points behind Barcelona at the top of La Liga after their 0-0 draw with arch-rivals Atletico, but Zidane affirmed all his side were lacking was a goal as “I don’t have any reason to criticise the team.”
“I think all we lacked was the goal. I don’t have any reason to criticise the team,” the Coach said after the game.
“We need to be patient. We lacked the goal but played better than we did against Tottenham or Girona.
“We had a good game, there were players who raised their level and it quickly showed. It’s clear that all we lacked was the goal.
“Title race over? I don’t think so. There are still many games remaining. We’re behind them by several points, yes, but this will change because Barcelona won’t always win and we have to be there when they don’t.
“I’m sorry for the players because they deserved more. Everyone played well. Bad luck? "This is football, sometimes the ball doesn’t want to go in.
“The good thing about this game was that we played well, but it’s true that we’re lacking goals, although it’ll definitely come, like last season and two months ago. We have to stay positive.
“Isco? He did very well, but when I look at how everyone played, they all played great. I’m happy with everyone.
“Referee wrong to let off Lucas on Ramos? I didn’t see it and I’m not going to comment on it. The referee did his job and that’s it.
“Ramos? I think it’s a fracture, he has a cut and [his nose] is broken, I don’t know how long he’ll be out.
“Anxiety about the lack of goals? When you have several chances and you don’t score, you’re not happy, of course, but neither do you feel discouraged.
“We’ll think about the things we did well. [Our lack of goals] will change and I can’t say any more than that.
“Message to the fans that think the League is lost? Things change quickly in football and we’re going to be there fighting.
“Why can’t we make up 10 points? We have to put that in our heads. That’s the way to go.
“Either way, whatever happens, we were 10 points behind [Barca] when I got here and we finished one behind them.
“We’ll keep going and thinking that in football, anything can happen. My spirits? While it’s true that things are complicated and we didn’t do what we had to do, the other teams are going to drop points too.”
