Real Madrid will visit Alavés at Mendizorroza on Saturday afternoon (15.15, UK time) in La Liga with the goal of continuing top of the table one week more. Los Blancos have won four straight games in all competitions and they should try with this pace with the newly promoted Basque team.
However, Alavés have shown that they are a tough team. Pellegrino’s side beat Barcelona at Nou Camp and drew against Atlético de Madrid at Vicente Calderón: “I expect a very difficult game. They haven’t lost at home and they’re doing great. We know the difficulties of the game, we have to think that it’s going to be complicated. If we are focused, it’s different”, Zidane said in press conference.
On Wednesday, Real Madrid thrashed Cultural Leonesa in the first game in Copa del Rey with some players like Asensio, Morata or Lucas Vázquez showing their quality. Asked about the BBC and their role in the team, Zidane answered: “I don’t take unfair decisions”. So we have to wait until Saturday to see if they’re going to start the game again.
The main thing is to start well the game, as the team did it in León. For this reason, the players need to be concentrated: “The players are full aware of this. If we want something at the end of the season, we need to think it every day, every game. If we think that we are going to win easily a game, we’re wrong. Every game is different”.
Zinedine Zidane cannot introduce in his list Modric, Ramos or Casemiro, still injured: “The one that is recovering faster is Modric. Ramos is back in the pitch two days ago and Casemiro is going slowly”, Zidane said. The main protagonist in the match against Cultural Leonesa was Nacho and his superb goal: “The most important thing is that Nacho is doing great. He’s a great professional, trains well and he does well every time he plays”.
Finally, Zidane was asked again about Cristiano Ronaldo’s performance and if he deserves the Ballon D’Or: “He put the bar so high that every time he’s not scoring is a problem. In 2016 what he has done it’s been, not only individually, but collectively. He knows that everything he is doing is thanks to his work and the people around him. He deserves the Ballon D’Or”, the French coach finished.
