Zinedine Zidane
Zinedine Zidane says he wants to fight on as Real Madrid’s manager after a 2-0 Champions League loss to Shakhtar Donetsk left the team’s chances of qualifying for the round of 16 in serious doubt.
Second-half goals from substitutes Dentinho and Manor Solomon saw Madrid beaten for the second time by the Ukrainians, after they opened their European campaign with a 3-2 home defeat in October.
The result in Kiev put Shakhtar level on points with Madrid, with both teams nervously eyeing Tuesday’s other Group B match between Borussia Monchengladbach and Inter Milan.
The final match day on December 9 sees Madrid hosting group leaders, Monchengladbach, and Shakhtar traveling to Inter.
“No. Not at all! I won’t resign,” Zidane said in his post-match news conference, when asked if he was considering his future.
Madrid have now lost five of their last 10 matches in all competitions, with La Liga defeats to Cadiz, Valencia and Alaves, combining with home and away Champions League losses to Shakhtar to leave Zidane under significant pressure.
“We have had complicated moments and we always will,” Zidane said. “We are on a bad run of results. That is the reality. But we have to keep going…I think we prepared well, we played a great first half. We have a game left and we have to win and think about going through,” he added.
Madrid now face a testing run of fixtures as they go away to top-four contenders; Sevilla in La Liga, face Monchengladbach in a must-win Champions League clash and then face Atletico Madrid in the derby – all in a week.
While Karim Benzema returned to the team Tuesday night, Madrid are still waiting for captain Sergio Ramos to recover from injury, and Eden Hazard who was ruled out for three weeks because of a thigh muscle problem.