MADRID – Zinedine Zidane wished the Clásico to be played against Barcelona this weekend would not be the last for Sergio Ramos or, much less, for Lionel Messi: “Let him stay with Barça, he’s fine there,” he joked the Frenchman. who also stressed that “it’s good for LaLiga.”
Aside from Zidane’s smile, the Real Madrid coach is not concerned about Messi’s “bad streak” in the classics, where he has six without scoring.
“We know the player who is Messi. He may be unmarked, but we know the player who he is. We are going to play against Barça and they are all very good. We are going to try to curb their strength, because there are many. “
As for Ramos himself, whose renewal continues without progress, Zidane became publicly wet again, according to ESPN: “I hope it is not his last Clásico and he will stay here,” said the Madrid coach.
Neither Sergio Ramos nor Dani Carvajal will arrive in time for the game against Barça. The case of Eden Hazard is different. The Belgian trained with the rest of the group all week and had options to join the squad, but Zidane ruled out the former Chelsea player to avoid the risk of a relapse, so Vinicius Jr is running as a starter.
“We are happy with Vini. Eden cannot be there. We have had problems with the injured, but we have a long team and everyone is dedicated. We enjoy Vinicius, but we have to leave him alone. We don’t need to talk. A lot, he’s very young. He’s calm and I’m happy because there’s a lot of noise, “Zidane publicly advised the young attacker.
Real Madrid are excited after the advantage they took in the Champions League quarter-finals first leg against Liverpool. The good feelings have increased compared to the start of the championship and even the whites still have options to win La Liga, three points behind Atletico Madrid and two points from Barça.
Finally, as for the classic, Zidane insisted that he prepare it “in the same way as any other match” and avoided talking about whether its winner could be the next league champion.
“Atlético is the one with the advantage and we will all have to play until the end. I have been saying that for a long time. It is a very competitive and very good competition. Until the end we will not know who the champion is. There are still many points left. ”, the French coach condemned.