No problem with Real Madrid motivation for Levante - Zidane

Published on: 02 February 2018

The FC crew assess the impact Real Madrid's "BBC" trio of Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo had on the club's win over Valencia in their first start together in 280 days. Real Madrid snapped a four-match road winless run in La Liga, as Cristiano Ronaldo's pair of penalties paved the way in a 4-1 win at Valencia.

Real Madrid will not lack motivation for Saturday's La Liga game at Levante because it will help them prepare for the Champions League clash with Paris Saint-Germain, coach Zinedine Zidane has said.

A difficult season has seen Madrid fall 19 points behind leaders Barcelona and go out of the Copa del Rey to Leganes.

Club captain Sergio Ramos has said the Champions League is "the only card" Madrid have left to play, and Zidane told a news conference: "It is not difficult to motivate the players. It is easy.

"If you think you can just turn up against PSG, you are wrong. The players know that. We must use these games before to recover our confidence.

"We have scored 11 goals in our last two games, and we must continue along this line. If we do our jobs well, we have a great chance to win every game. If not it is more difficult.

"We must keep going in La Liga, try and finish as high as possible -- I do not think the title is decided."

Madrid's Copa exit means they have two free midweeks ahead of the PSG tie, and Zidane said a "mini preseason" had been designed by fitness coach Antonio Pintus to boost stamina.

"You work in all aspects before every game, not just the PSG game but tomorrow's game," he said. "We want to lift our levels of intensity and stamina and to keep that going through the whole game."

Zidane also explained why his team had not signed anyone in the winter transfer window, saying: "Some might think I did to avoid problems [with current players].

"But I trust in my squad, that is what I want to communicate. When things are tough, they show with their work, their battling qualities, their motivation, that this is not over yet."

Zinedine Zidane wants Madrid to keep looking ahead.

Cristiano Ronaldo (calf), Isco (hip), Sergio Ramos (calf) and Raphael Varane (knee) all trained with the squad on Friday.

Isco's absence has seen the "BBC" of Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Ronaldo played up front, but Zidane said: "Since I have been here I have always changed things.

"We can play with the three up front, as that is where Cristiano, Karim and Gareth have always played and always performed.

"I have other possibilities, with other players. I do not have anything fixed. Isco is very important for us, we will have nine games now in a month.

"Tomorrow if Isco plays, it will be why not [Marco] Asensio, the next day it will be [Dani] Ceballos. You [media] are there to talk about that, I am here to pick my team.

"When someone gets a chance to play, I hope they do well. Nothing else matters to me."

Zidane stressed that he did not want his players to think about any of their difficulties during the season, adding: "We must think positively.

"I do not look at the past, it is over now. We won our last game 4-1 at Valencia. This is very positive for us. We've another game tomorrow to show we want more."

Dermot Corrigan is a Madrid-based football writer who covers La Liga and the Spain national team for ESPN FC. Follow him on Twitter @dermotmcorrigan

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Source: espn.co.uk

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