After the draw in El Clásico, Real Madrid have to face Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League group stage. Los Blancos need to win the match to finish top of their group. Some people say it might be better to finish in the second place but “we don’t have to do any calculations. We want to be the first”, Zinedine Zidane said.
Apart from the rival, the journalist were very interested in James Rodríguez situation. Despite the injuries, the Colombian didn’t play any minute in El Clásico and the French manager was asked about a possible transfer: “Every one can have their opinion, when you play less, you can think about it. He’s a player of Real Madrid and it’s important to me. It’s tru that it’s a problem. He wants to play more and lately he’s not playing a lot but for me he’s important. I’ll need the whole group”, the manager said.
The Colombian player trained after El Clásico: “For me this is nothing. I admire James, who trains and is available for the coach. I have the same treat with James Rodríguez and the others. The fact that he trained on Saturday in Valdebebas doesn’t change abything. A lot of players do it after the games, to recover. The same treat”.
Another player who is not at his best is Karim Benzema: “I’m not concerned. He can give more, like everybody. He’s training well and there are some games that we need more from him. He works always and he tries to be better. He doesn’t have any problem. In the game in Lisbon, he scored. We expected more from him in Barcelona. But I see him focused, concentrated. I’m not going to judge a footballer for a game”, the coach said.
Zidane also spoke about the important game against Borussia Dortmund. Los Blancos need to win to lead their group: “We are going to play a final, the final of the group stage. We play at home and we want to do a great game. We are not going to do calculations. We are going to try to be first”, the French manager finished.
