Fresh from a new-look Real Madrid smashing their city rivals Atletico Madrid on the weekend, Zinedine Zidane has reinforced his belief that Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, and Karim Benzema are his best attackers. Isco, Lucas Vazquez, and Alvaro Morata have all impressed at varying stages this season although their coach admitted he doesn't seem them as on the same level as their teammates. "It's not that BBC are non-negotiable, it's that they are the best," Zidane told the assembled press. "All my players are the best, but BBC have a little more. "The system will not change, we know the difficulty of each match and beating Atletico doesn't guarantee anything and tomorrow will be a very difficult game. "When I put the team together I tell myself that we'll try and win the game, nothing more. We always study the opponent and they'll study us. "I think we have the best players. Placing them on the pitch in one way or another doesn't change much."
Whether or not Benzema will be fit to start, having been placed on the bench along with Sergio Ramos on Saturday night, remains to be seen. "We'll see tomorrow," noted Zidane. "All those here are ready, the injured are back in Madrid." Beating Sporting CP in Lisbon will be crucial in keeping up the fight to win their Champions League group, although Real's boss is focussed on his own team rather than how Borussia Dortmund get on against Legia Warsaw. "I don't look at these permutations," Zidane insisted. "What matters is that we go to win games, we'll do everything to win and afterwards we'll look at the table."Real Madrid's defence has been highlighted as their weakest point, and yet goalkeeper Keylor Navas has now collected two consecutive clean sheets.
What's more, the defensive shutouts have come with experienced centre-backs Sergio Ramos and Pepe out injured, with the keeper putting his success down to the team effort. "I always have faith that we'll win close games by keeping a clean sheet, and as a group we're working really well. Clean sheets do not just come from the goalkeeper, everybody must work," the Costa Rican told reporters. Coming back from a run of injuries at the start of the campaign, Navas has now re-cemented himself in between Los Blancos' goalposts and recently received a UEFA Team of the Year nomination. "I feel healthy, which is important because if you feel good you can work well, and the team's doing very well," he noted. "For me it's a big motivation to be on a par with great goalkeepers. I take all these things with humility, everyday I can improve and I must keep working at 100 percent." Finally, the shot-stopper considered Cristiano Ronaldo's mentality with the forward returning to face his old club, Sporting CP, after a hat-trick in the Madrid derby. "It's nice to go home and it's a special game but he always works with the same intensity and desire," Navas stated. "He's a great professional who is also sentimental, but at a professional level he'll play the game like he always does."
Comments
Post a Comment