FIFA ban "is absurd" says Zidane

Zinedine Zidane spoke in press conference about Real Madrid's upcoming match against Sporting Gijón and also about the FIFA ban that will not allow Real to sign any players until the summer of 2017 unless their appeal goes through.

"We are here to talk about tomorrow's game vs Gijon and not about FIFA's punishment. We will see what happens next week. I think this ban is absurd and I'm sure that this will be solved next week. It's simple, they made a mistake and the club definitely has the right to appeal," said the manager.

"We're out of the Copa del Rey and this is not good, but at the same time we have time to work so we can be ready for the Champions League and La Liga. This is obviously good because we needed this time to work on our system," he explained.

Cristiano Ronaldo has struggled a bit lately, but Zidane isn't worried. "Cristiano is very decisive for our team, it's true that there will always be talks about him, but I am very happy to have him. He is the world's greatest."

Real Madrid might need a backup left-back and while Zidane "values" Coentrao, "the club has not talked about bringing him back now," said the Frenchman.

"Sporting have really good players and we have to be focused, but my focus is on our own performance, as always," added the manager when asked about his opponent.

Real's coach also said that Varane "will start tomorrow."