Zidane desperate for Madrid’s regular results
Real Madrid’s 5-0 thumping of Leganes on Wednesday was their biggest win in La Liga since his first spell as coach but Zinedine Zidane (pictured) was hardly in a celebratory mood.
In the press conference after the match, one expectant journalist asked if it was Madrid’s best performance of the season. “No I don’t think so,” Zidane said.
Another suggested this was at least their most complete showing so far. “There are people who will think it’s our best game,” Zidane said. “Not for me, but we have to be happy.”
A third finally questioned which matches did Zidane prefer, to which the Frenchman proposed the season’s opening win over Celta Vigo or last week’s 1-0 victory over Galatasaray in the Champions League.
The fact is there are few candidates, from a campaign in which Real Madrid have produced only in spurts, flitting between commanding and chaotic even within individual matches, let alone from week-to-week.
Their win over Leganes was their most emphatic in the league since they beat Celta 6-0 under Zidane in May 2018 and there have also been resilient away victories at Galatasaray and Sevilla this term, not to mention goal flurries against Granada and Levante.
But both Granada and Levante almost pulled off comebacks while miserable defeats away at promoted Mallorca and Paris Saint-Germain exposed a bluntness up front and fragility at the back that felt all-too familiar.
“The problem is we have to show every three days that we are good,” Zidane said earlier this month. “That is the difficulty and that is what we do not do.”
After 10 games, the juncture when teams can supposedly be judged, the picture is still not clear, yet there are signs, in Zidane’s selection at least, that his second tenure is taking shape. -AFP
