Real were motivated by rivals results – Zidane

REAL MADRID were spurred on by La Liga title rivals Barcelona and Sevilla dropping points yesterday, coach Zinedine Zidane said as his side took a four-point lead at the top by beating Real Sociedad 3-0 in the late game.

“When you play last and see your rivals lose or draw you feel more motivated and we went into the game feeling really fired up,” Zidane said.

Real approached the weekend ravaged by six injuries and smarting after their elimination in the King’s Cup quarterfinals to Celta Vigo as their Spanish record-breaking 40-game unbeaten run was followed by one win in their last four matches.

“We needed a game like this, now we’re playing very well and need to keep going like this,” said Kovacic.

“We’re four points clear and we have to take advantage of that and stay ahead until the end so we can win the league.

“I’m very happy because we have a week to rest and work hard and think about the next game,” said Zidane. “We’ll have a couple of days off to rest and that’ll be great for the players and then we have the week to work hard.

“But this (yesterday’s win) is only one game and we have to keep going. We have to give everything and keep training well.

“It won’t be easy and we’re going to have difficult games, but today was very positive because of our performance and the three points,” he added. – Reuters