Despite the absence of his world-class attackers Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, Zinedine Zidane’s Real Madrid side managed to secure all three points in the game away at the RCDE Stadium. The reigning champions of Europe managed to beat rivals Espanyol 2-0 in the La Liga, away on their travels on Sunday, with a confident performance put up by them.
Talking about how the team performed in a rather tough fixture, the Frenchman said, “When the rotations work out you can only be happy. One goes in, another one comes out and everyone does really well. We are always going to rotate players, we have got quality players and we are going to carry on this way”.
“I have got 24 players and they are all quality. We are going to play 60 games and we have to change players in each game because we are playing every three days. Everyone is doing really well and putting in a lot of effort”.
“James had to play in the middle, behind Karim, as a no. 10. He looked good in that position. I am happy not just because of the goals from James and Karim, but due to the overall performance and what they did in general. They are talented players and they can make a difference, as they did tonight. The most important thing is how they all worked together”.
Zidane also spoke about the performance put in by the home side, as they were no easy target and posed a tough challenge for his side, who really had to be on top of their game to get that result at the end. He said that, “Espanyol played a really good game today, especially in the first half. They are a difficult opponent and very good. We are always going to have difficult games away from home.”
About the upcoming games and the impact of the result on them, he stated, We have to continue picking up points and doing our job. We deserved to win the game over 90 minutes.”
Further, on the Casemiro injury he added, “We are going to have a look. He got a big hit and we play in two days. We will evaluate it and see if he is better tomorrow. We are not going to take any risks”.
Talking about Sergio Ramos’s potential sending off with a second yellow, he concluded his interview by suggesting that he was unaware of the incident and concluded, “I did not see it. I thought the ball had hit him in the face. I did not see the move. You are down on the field and you do not know what happened”.
It was a good win for the club, especially since they were playing away from the Bernabeu and had a few big names out of the squad, which showcases some of the strength that the Madrid based side have on the bench as well.
Whether it is their first team stars or the ones that replaced them, all can perform at the top level and help their manager achieve the desired results on the night, which was evident by the fact that the Colombian international scored for them.
Next, the giants from Spain will face off against Villarreal in the league on the 21st of September, as they look to retain their lead on top of the points table, with fierce rivals Barcelona three points behind them at present.
Real will not just be looking to win the league this season, but also have a Champions League title to defend, a task which seems nearly next to impossible.
There is a need for the squad to have a lot of depth and quality at the same time and a right combination of the two will be essential in achieving any sort of targets that Zidane might be having for the current campaign.
