Zinedine Zidane was unhappy with his side and admitted they were not ready after Real Madrid lost 2-1 to Valencia.
Real Madrid fell to a disappointing 2-1 defeat after Zidane’s men were caught cold in the opening stages of the game. Madrid were expected to ease past 14th-placed Valencia but did not turn up on the day.
Simone Zaza – who was an unequivocal failure at West Ham – scored with a brilliant volley on the turn in the fifth minute before Fabian Orellana added a second just 4 minutes later leaving Los Blancos shell-shocked.
Cristiano Ronaldo gave Madrid some hope with a goal just a minute before half-time, but the visitors were unable to find a way past Valencia in the second half and the hosts held on for a surprise win that dealt a blow to Zidane’s team in the title race.
Speaking after the game, Zinedine Zidane admitted his team had already lost the game within the first ten minutes and said that his side had to be more focused in future games in order to avoid upsets like this.
“We lost the game in the first ten minutes. We moved the ball well, played our game and created chances to score. We made mistakes and they scored twice. We then had 80 minutes to get back into the game, we did that but we were lacking in many areas today,” Zidane said, according to the club’s official website.
“We have to stay switched on at all times. If you lose concentration for a moment, they punish you. Things have now become tougher after we failed to get the three points. We need to bear in mind that we can’t win games just by turning up. We’re not looking for excuses, we simply have to turn our attentions to the next game”
The result leaves Real Madrid just a single point ahead of Barcelona and 3 points ahead of third-placed Sevilla, although Los Blancos do have a game in hand. The result only adds pressure on a side that has been struggling at times.
However, Barcelona have also looked shaky at times this season and the title race definitely looks like it will be one that goes down to the wire given the recent performances of both sides. Sevilla will also be fired up after Real Madrid’s disappointing result.
Zidane will be hoping that this result lights a fire under his team and that there are no slip-ups when Real Madrid travel to El Madrigal on Monday to face Villarreal, who held them to a draw at the Bernabeu back in September.
