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Zinedine Zidane answered the press’ questions after Real Madrid’s tough 2-1 victory over Bayern Munich.
On The Game as a Whole
You're never going to manage to put the tie to bed. With our second-half display, in which we regained possession a lot and played very well and with the chances we created, it would have been better had we managed to come away from here having scored another goal. However, we're happy with our performance.
We showed during the first half that we're capable of digging and ultimately our patience and desire saw us pick up a good result, but we've got the return leg to come and we still have to secure our qualification. Not even had we scored another goal here would that have put the tie beyond them.
The key was the patience we showed, that was important for us. During the first half we had to really dig in because they enjoyed a lot of possession. In the second period we were better and we waited for our chance to put the game to bed. This is a good result.
We covered the open spaces well right across the pitch and from front to back. I'm happy with the result, there was a bit of everything: we showed patience at a difficult place to come and we suffered but kept our cool. Bayern are a great team, with superb players, but in the second half we were able to take the ball off them and we're happy with the win.
On the 2nd half
If you go in 2-0 down, regardless of the fact that it wasn't a penalty, it becomes a different game. We got the equalizer at the start of the second half and that changed the complexion of the match. We played with real character and when it was 11v10 we performed a lot better. We came up against a goalkeeper who pulled off a lot of saves.
On Cristiano Ronaldo
He was happy, but no so much so because he could have scored the third. That is his ambition. We are all happy because getting a result here is not easy. Now we must relax because the game in La Liga is just around the corner. In the return leg we will have to dig and we know that.
We know Cristiano’s position on the field, but he had the freedom during the game to go wherever the ball fell. He always plays best on the wing and before the game we thought that he has to has be on the move, switching positions with Bale and Benzema.
On the Asensio Substitution
Gareth felt something at half-time and I didn't want to risk him. He's suffering now but we hope it's nothing serious. I'm happy with the substitution because Marco did well out there.