Zizou still expects a tough fight
Zinedine Zidane warned his Real Madrid players that they can expect to suffer in the return leg of their Champions League tie with Paris Saint-Germain despite seeing Cristiano Ronaldo inspire a 3-1 comeback victory on Wednesday.
The reigning European champions stunned the PSG in the last 16, first-leg showdown with two goals in the final seven minutes at the Santiago Bernabeu from Ronaldo and Marcelo.
“We can afford to have a bit of euphoria tonight. We have to be satisfied, and enjoy this. But there is a second leg to come where we will need to play with a lot of intensity. We know we are going to suffer,” said Zidane.
Zidane again saw the Champions League bring the best out of his team and Ronaldo.
“With Ronaldo it’s difficult to always say the same thing. He has shown once again that he always turns up in the big games,” said Zidane.
He has scored 11 this season in Europe in just seven matches, and he won the battle of the superstars with Neymar.
SOFT PENALTY, SAY PSG
While Real are looking to win the European Cup for the third year running, PSG risk seeing their wait for a first Champions League crown go on. A year after they fell apart in historic fashion to lose 6-1 in Barcelona at the same stage of the competition, here was another late collapse on Spanish soil. Coach Unai Emery surely needs to win this tie to remain in the job, but he took some big decisions that backfired, including not bringing on Angel Di Maria.
“The team played well and deserved better. We have to be optimistic and positive for the match in Paris. We still have a good chance of getting through,” claimed Emery.
Emery tried to turn the focus on referee, saying the penalty the hosts got for a Giovani Lo Celso challenge on Toni Kroos was soft.
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