Zidane: “We’re not going to take risks with Benzema’s injury”

Real Madrid have made it four wins in a row and Zinedine Zidane was happy as he looked back on the 1-0 win away at Real Valladolid, while the coach also started looking ahead to the midweek Champions League game against Atalanta.

Speaking in his post match press conference, Zidane said: “There are no easy games. Real Valladolid needed the points too, so it was difficult. We’ll have to fight to the limit in all our matches. We’ll have difficult matches between now and the end of the season, but we can be happy with this one. This is the fourth win in a row for us and we just need to keep doing what we’re doing without looking at other teams. We’ve had three matches in a row without conceding. The whole team defended well, while we know we can do good things with the ball. We’re doing good and now we have to rest well ahead of the Champions League game on Wednesday.”

One of the big question marks ahead of the Wednesday night match is the status of Karim Benzema, who missed this weekend’s game with injury. On his starting No.9, Zidane said: “We’ll see tomorrow. I think he has another scan tomorrow. But, today I can’t say anything. He’s doing a little better and we’ll see tomorrow, but we’re not risking him. There are many matches left in this long season. If he can be with us then he will be.”

Discussing the injury crisis as a whole, Zidane said: “It’s true that we have lots of injuries, but we hope to get players back soon. For now, we have to make do with who we have here and we’re doing that. The players who are available are committed.”