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A happy Zinedine Zidane spoke to the press after Real Madrid’s 2-0 win over Borussia Mönchengladbach and explained how delighted he was with the performance and the fact that Real Madrid are into the last 16 as group winners.
He said: “I’m happy with the match. We had a good performance in this important match. We had to go out and get the points and now we finish this round first in the group, which is what we wanted. The first half was spectacular and I think the second was too. I think the fans should be very proud of the team today. I’ve enjoyed today’s match a lot, as I’m a fan too.”
Once again, it was a case of Real Madrid performing well when their backs were against the wall and the coach was asked why it is that the team perform so well under pressure. He replied: “We can perform under pressure and also when there’s no pressure. Well, here there is never no pressure. When you’re at this club people always want us to play well. We always want that, but it can’t always be the case.”
Looking to the future, Zidane was asked if he thinks he could stay at Real Madrid long enough to become the Alex Ferguson of Real Madrid. “No, I don’t think I’ll ever be the Alex Ferguson of Real Madrid,” he started, laughing. “That’s for sure. What I really want is to enjoy what I’m doing. I don’t know how long I’ll be here for. I don’t even think about that. I just think about the day to day and the luck I have to be here at this great club with these great players. Even in difficult moments I like it. Not only just when we win. It has already been a while, for Spain and for Real Madrid. I want to stay for a while longer.”
Finally, Zidane was asked to explain how Luka Modrić is still performing so well at 35 years of age. On the Croatian, the coach said: “He has quality and then he has such character. He will show what he can do for as long as he wants to play, just like he has over his entire career. He has said he’d like to finish his career at Real Madrid, like I did. Above all, he has quality.”