Zidane’s future in Madrid back on track — for now

BARCELONA, Spain — A beleaguered Zinedine Zidane got the win he needed to take some pressure off as Real Madrid’s manager.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored two first-half penalties to lead them past Valencia 4-1 Saturday, breaking Madrid’s four-game winless streak away from home in the Spanish league.

The lopsided win at the home of the surprise La Liga contenders came after criticism of Zidane intensified this week following Madrid’s shocking exit from the Copa del Rey quarter-finals to Leganes.

“I will always be under scrutiny, every day, that won’t change until the end,” Zidane said after the win at Mestalla. “What I have to do is to keep working with my players and today I have to congratulate them for the match they played. To play well here and win 4-1 is not easy.”

Out of the cup and out of reach of runaway leader Barcelona in the league, Madrid’s chances of salvaging the campaign hinge on bettering Paris Saint-Germain when they meet in the Champions League round of 16 in three weeks.

Despite being the coach that has led Madrid to back-to-back European Cups, Zidane was in dire need of a strong performance by his team against a quality opponent before facing the French leader.

Madrid has only games against Levante and Real Sociedad before it turns to its first showdown with Neymar’s PSG on Feb. 14.

“We know what those games (against PSG) mean for us, but we have to keep fighting for each game in the league so we can arrive to those games (versus PSG) after a good run of results,” Madrid midfielder Luka Modric said. “It’s crazy, I can’t believe that people question Zidane after all that he has done with us.”