Zidane reveals that Kroos not playing against Manchester City was a technical decision

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane talked to the press after the 1-2 loss against manchester City in the opening leg of the Champions League’s Round of 16. Zidane was asked about Toni Kroos not playing a single minute and revealed that it was a technical decision, meaning that the German midfielder is healthy and available to play.

“He’s a very important player for us, but this was my decision. I’ve got nothing against Toni, he’s doing a good job, but I had other players available and I chose these players tonight,” said Zidane when asked about Kroos.

Real Madrid have lost two of their last three games and the other one was a very disappointing draw against Celta de Vigo. Los Blancos have lost all momentum ahead of what’s going to be a decisive El Clasico against Barcelona next Sunday.

“I don’t why this bad streak is happening, it’s a tough moment for us, that’s the truth. Now we have to stay together to be stronger and we have to keep working. Next Sunday we have a very good chance to bounce back and turn things around,” explained Zidane.

The Frenchman was asked about who was the better team last night, and while Manchester City had more chances to score and appeared to control the game efficiently, Zidane believes that it was a close game.

“I don’t know who the best team was, there were two great teams on the pitch. Their two goals happened because of mistakes from us. The last 10 minutes of the game were very bad, it was a bad way to end the game and it could’ve been even worse,” said the coach.

Real Madrid’s chances of advancing to the Quarterfinals are very slim after City’s away win. A 0-1 win for Madrid will not be enough but Zidane believes they can still go through.

“Now it is time for us to look at what we did well in this game. There are not many things positive about the score but we did a good game other than the final minutes. We played well for 70 minutes and now we have to play in Manchester and win the game if we want to advance,” concluded Zidane.