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Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane could not hide his frustration after his side conceded a late equalizer to draw 2-2 at Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League on Tuesday, repeatedly remarking “we are broken.”
Substitute Andre Schurrle’s 87th minute rocket pulled an impressive Dortmund side level for the second time in the game, denying Real a victory that would have taken it three points clear at the top of Group F.
Dortmund had wasted a series of chances to equalize before Schurrle struck, but Zidane still lamented his team’s failure to kill off the game, having also conceded a late leveler to draw 2-2 at Las Palmas last Saturday.
“We’re broken because we played well on defense and attack and played how we wanted to play,” said Zidane. “In the end it’s always the same and this is the third game now.”
Real looked to be on its way to a victory after Raphael Varane tapped in from a few yards out to restore its lead midway through the second half, after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had canceled out Cristiano Ronaldo’s opener.
Schurrle’s late tally signaled a third successive draw for the European champions, who had won 16 games in La Liga until drawing 1-1 with Villarreal last week.
“Sometimes football is like this and sometimes you go on a bad run, but we’re going to keep going and we’re going to turn this around,” added Zidane.
Spurs’ Pochettino hails prodigious Son
Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino praised Son Heung-min for stepping up in Harry Kane’s absence, adding that the forward “is on fire” after scoring the winner in Tuesday’s 1-0 victory at CSKA Moscow.
Kane was the club’s top scorer in the last two seasons and has netted twice in five league appearances this campaign but the England striker sustained an ankle injury earlier this month.
Meanwhile, South Korea international Son has scored five goals in all competitions for Spurs this season, including a brace in Saturday’s 2-1 Premier League win at Middlesbrough.
“I think it is key. It is very important that not only Harry, who was good before his injury and scored, that now another player has scored and that is very important for the team,” Pochettino told reporters.
Pochettino also explained the reasoning behind his decision to replace striker Vincent Janssen, top scorer in the Dutch league last season, with winger Georges-Kevin N’Koudou a few minutes before Son scored the winning goal in Moscow.
“We tried to find more mobility in our offensive position. It is for that reason we changed Vincent for N’Koudou, to have more pace down the sides,” he added.
“First touch we find the link and it was fantastic the goal. Sometimes when you change, it goes well and sometimes no.”
Slimani leads Leicester again
Meanwhile, Leicester City forgot its domestic struggles to secure a second successive Champions League victory as Islam Slimani tormented a familiar foe by grabbing the only goal in a 1-0 win over Porto.
Leicester sits top of Group G with six points after Slimani headed powerfully home from a Riyad Mahrez cross in the first half for his sixth goal in his last four matches against Porto, having joined Leicester from Sporting Lisbon in August. It was his third goal in four games for Leicester, all of which have been headers.
It was the first time Leicester had tasted Champions League soccer at home and it came into the game on the back of a 4-1 defeat to Manchester United and a run of poor form in the Premier League, but the English champion looked comfortable throughout against Porto.
“We played with our spirit tonight,” Leicester boss Claudio Ranieri said as his team stayed two points clear of FC Copenhagen at the top of the group. (Reuters)