Zidane: “We will make Real Madrid fans proud”

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane talked to the press ahead of Saturday’s Madrid Derby against Atletico —21:00 CEST—. Zidane discussed his team’s chances of securing the win and revealed that Rodrygo will play for Castilla this weekend.

“We have a game tomorrow and we want to win. We are facing a very good team but the same can be said about them,” said Zidane.

The Frenchman was also asked about Atletico being considered the humble team of the Spanish capital.

“I won’t talk about this, what I’ll say is that our people wake up early, they work a lot and I can’t change what people say about them being the humble team. What I know is that Real Madrid fans want to be proud of their team and we will make them feel proud,” explained Zidane.

Real Madrid received a tough 3-7 defeat when they faced Atletico in the pre-season, but Zidane doesn’t care about that.

“It doesn’t make a difference, we didn’t even see footage of that game. We always have responsibility. We know what we have to do, it’s a Liga game and it’s our next one,” added the coach.

Rodrygo scored a beautiful goal on his debut with the club but will play with Castilla this weekend.

“We know what we’re doing. He’s going to play for Castilla this weekend but it doesn’t change anything. He’s a first team player but we take things slowly with him. We had made that decision before, he’ll play with Castilla and he’s loving it,” he explained.

Finally, Zidane praised Hazard and said he trusts his player to deliver.

“We know the kind of player he is, we know he will respond and he did so in Sevilla. Everybody is expecting a lot from him and he will become the player we want him to be,” concluded Zidane.