Posted on: 02:07 Sat, 06 Feb 2016



Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane says
Sunday evening’s La Liga clash at Granada is a
“must win” if his team want to remain in the
title race.

Madrid could be seven points behind leaders
Barcelona when they travel south to face 19th-
placed Granada, should the Catalans win their
lunchtime game at Levante on Sunday.

Los Blancos have hammered Deportivo La
Coruna, Sporting Gijon and Espanyol at the
Estadio Santiago Bernabeu since Zidane
replaced Rafa Benitez as coach in January, but
they have won just one of their last five away
games — and drew 1-1 at Real Betis a fortnight
ago.

The galactico coach told his pregame news
conference that his team needed to start at
Granada with a different attitude as they could
not afford to drop any more points now.

“It is a difficult game against a strong
opponent,” Zidane said. “We must begin the
game strongly. We must do things differently
than against Betis. We cannot drop more points.
Only a win is any good for us.”

Zidane said he expected a difficult game at Los
Carmenes, where Granada have beaten both
Sevilla and Athletic Bilbao in recent games.

“We know they will come out strong,” he said.
“Against Betis we were not ready and when
they score a quick goal against you it is more
difficult. With the quality we have we can win
the game. The key is to use that quality from
the first minute. If we begin the game strongly,
as we do at the Bernabeu, everything is easier.”

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Camp Nou thrashing
Asked if his mind had started to focus on the
Champions League, where Madrid are at Roma
in the first leg of their round-of-16 tie in 10
days’ time, Zidane said he would not think about
prioritising Europe until La Liga was impossible.

“No, we will go with everything now in La Liga,
we have time to prepare for the Champions
League,” he said. “Only a win will do for us. We
have faith in the players. They know the
situation and know it is difficult as we are
behind, but until we are mathematically out of it
we will keep battling until the end.”

Gareth Bale is not in the Madrid squad as he
continues his recovery from his latest calf
muscle injury, and Zidane said it was important
not to rush the Wales international back before
he was fully ready.

“We have preferred to keep him out for a while,”
he said. “He is better, but not fully recovered, it
is better to do things well and go step by step.”

Zidane said he expected Cristiano Ronaldo, who
turned 31 on Friday, to play on for many more
years at Madrid.

“I have admiration for Cristiano,” said the
Frenchman, who retired at 34. “Maybe he will
play for longer than me, for sure he will. It is
not that I did not look after myself, but he does
it even more, physically he is a beast. He can
play on for many more years, and hopefully at
Madrid.”

Asked about the playing style of Barca star
Neymar, and the Brazilian’s tendency to
embarrass opponents with fancy tricks, Zidane
said he could understand rival teams’ frustration
but fans were entertained by such flourishes.

“I cannot say anything about him, he is that
type of player,” he said. “There are people who
like it, others do not. It is normal that when you
do silly things, in front of an opponent, not
everyone will like it. But it’s good for the
spectacle. For the fans to enjoy themselves.”