Zidane: We’re not throwing flowers into the air, we did the job

MADRID: Real Madrid delivered a winning response to Zinedine Zidane’s (pic) stinging criticism as Mariano Diaz scored twice in a 3-2 victory over Villarreal.

An angry Zidane questioned the attitude of his players after last week’s 1-0 loss to Rayo Vallecano and reacted by making more changes, with Luka Modric and Gareth Bale not even included in the squad.

“I am the coach,” Zidane said. “I pick the squad and that’s it.”

Instead, youngsters like Jesus Vallejo, Brahim Diaz and Federico Valverde were given chances to impress, along with Mariano, who has barely been used since joining from Lyon last summer.

His two goals, either side of Vallejo scoring his first for the club, were enough, despite Jaume Costa pulling a late goal back for Villarreal to set up an unexpectedly nervy finish.

“We played better than against Rayo,” Zidane said.

“We needed that and the players needed it. We played well, no more, we’re not throwing flowers into the air. We did the job and we won.”

The result leaves third-placed Real six points behind Atletico Madrid in La Liga with two games left.

Real would need to win both of their remaining matches and Atletico lose both of theirs to prevent Diego Simeone’s side finishing as the top team in the capital for the second year running.

But more of a concern for Zidane will be the 15-point gap behind Barcelona, which would likely be even bigger had the already-crowned champions not rested players for the Champions League in recent weeks. — AFP