Real undone by Zidane’s tactics
MADRID : Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane was left cursing his team’s misfortune after Espanyol forward Gerard Moreno struck late to inflict a fifth Liga defeat this term on the Spanish champions.
Espanyol’s 1-0 victory with a 93rd minute goal was the Catalan outfit’s first over the Madrid side in 11 years.
The result leaves Real in third place, a whopping 14 points adrift of leaders Barcelona and seven behind city rivals Atletico in second spot, with both rivals having a game in hand. It represents a huge fall from the standards set last season When Real they claimed a domestic title and European Cup double.
While they have one foot in the last eight of the Champions League with a 3-1 first-leg win over Paris St-germain, Zidane was at a loss to explain a La Liga campaign that has seen them lose to Real Betis, Girona, Barca, Villarreal and now Espanyol. To put the results into context, Real only lost three times in the domestic league in whole of last season.
“Sometimes you just cannot understand this sport,” Zidane told BEIN Sports. “You have to take the bad times when they come, though. “After five good results, playing well, unfortunately we just couldn’t do it today. We started well but just didn’t take our chances.”
It is not the first time Zidane has suggested things just did not quite fall right for Real on the night, yet at Cornella the biggest errors were his own tactical decisions.
After seeing Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale all return to form with the goals in the weekend 4-0 victory over Alaves, his decision to omit two of his ‘BBC’ attacking triumvirate from the side was questionable.
“Things just didn’t quite go right and there’s many reasons behind that,” he said. “It’s not because of one player at all.
“I’m angry for my players, because they conceded a goal in the last minute in a game in which the opposition did not enjoy many chances. It’s tough but we’ll bounce back.” Moreno 90+3 Portu 14 Barcelona 25 20 5 0 56 65 Atletico 25 17 7 1 30 58 Real 26 15 6 5 34 51 Valencia 25 15 4 6 20 49 Villarreal 25 12 5 8 7 41
‘BARCELONA BEING HARMED BY SCHEDULE’
MADRID: Barcelona have been “harmed” by this week’s La Liga fixture schedule, coach Ernesto Valverde said on Wednesday.
Barca, who sit seven points above nearest rivals Atletico Madrid in the table, visit Las Palmas on Thursday, a three-and-ahalf-hour flight from mainland Spain. Three days later they host second-placed Atletico in a potentially pivotal tie in the title race.
“In this set of fixtures we’re being harmed by the schedule, yes,” Valverde told a news conference.
“We’re harmed because we play tomorrow at nine in the evening and Atleti, who we’ll face with the type of side they are and with their style, play today (Wednesday). There’s the fact we will have a day less rest and the travel involved, too.”