Zidane: "James is happy and doing well"

Zinedine Zidane was visibly happy during the post-match press conference in Anoeta. Real Madrid won 0-3 after a comfortable game and managed to dominate all 90 minutes of the game.

“It is always important to make a good start to a campaign. We played well and to start with a win in such a difficult stadium with three goals in our favour and having conceded none is the best approach. They are just three points though, and now we need to rest and prepare for the next game," said Zidane.

Asensio scored a brilliant goal —once again— and gave Zidane even more reasons to trust him in the future.

“I am pleased with the work he did and his goal. I was very satisfied with his game. For me however the most important aspect is the team, not simply Marco or Mateo. Everyone played well but it is more a case of the team. We created a lot of chances and gave very few away. We kept a clean sheet. Asensio is working hard, he has quality and talent. He is very good with the ball and positions himself well. His goal was impressive and he lost his marker well," explained Real's coach.

The player himself was interviewed after the match.

"I don't set myself any targets. I try to work hard, play well and in the end things are working out well. I'm happy and even more so because my goals are helping the team. In training, I work hard to make the starting line-up and I try to do my best to be picked. Today in the pre-match meeting Zidane told me that I'd be starting," he said.

Bale scored a brace and led the team, who were without Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema. Gareth Bale will be a very important player this season.

“I am happy for him. He still has some catching up to do physically but that didn’t show today. We started in the best way possible, scoring a goal quickly, which made things easy for us. It is a tough ground to come to and if you don´t take your chances things can get complicated. We scored three without conceding. I don´t like to speak specifically about one player but when Gareth scores twice… It is an important year for him and he has shown that," said Zidane.

The French coach kept both James and Isco on the bench but said that things could be different in the future. James was Real's third substitution but Zidane says that the Colombian playmaker is happy.

“All of the players are important to me. Something different may happen in the next game. What matters to me i what I see over the course of the week. All of the players are going to feature and play important roles. He is doing well, he is focused, working hard and today we were able to get three points," concluded Zidane.