MADRID – Zinedine Zidane wanted the Clásico to be played this weekend against Barcelona not to be the last for Sergio Ramos or, even less so, for Lionel Messi: “Let him stay at Barça, it’s good there He joked, adding that “it’s good for LaLiga.”
Beyond Zidane’s smile, the Real Madrid coach is not worried about Messi’s “bad line” in the classics, where he has six without scoring.
“We know the player who is Messi. Maybe he is unmarked, but we know the player who is. We will play against Barça and they are all very good. We will try to reduce their strength, because there are many.”
As for Ramos himself, whose renewal continues unabated, according to ESPN, Zidane has once again gone public: “I hope it’s not his last Clásico and he will stay here,” said the Madrid coach.
Neither Sergio Ramos nor Dani Carvajal arrive in time for the match against Barça. Eden Hazard’s case is different. The Belgian trained with the rest of the group all week and had options to join the group, but Zidane excluded the former Chelsea player to avoid the risk of recidivism, so Vinicius Jr runs as a starter.
“We are happy with Vini. Eden can’t be there. We had problems with the injured, but we have a long team and everyone is engaged. We are happy with Vinicius, but we have to leave him alone. We don’t have to talk much, it’s very young. He is calm and I am happy, because there is a lot of noise “, Zidane advised the young man before.
Real Madrid is feeling well after the advantage they won in the first leg of the quarter-finals of the Champions League against Liverpool. The good feelings have increased compared to the beginning of the championship and even the whites still have options to win La Liga, being three points behind Atletico Madrid and two points behind Barça.
Finally, regarding the classic, Zidane insisted that it prepares him “just like another game” and avoided talking about whether its winner could be the next league champion.
“Atlético is the one with the advantage and until the end we will all have to play. I have been saying this for a long time. It is a very competitive and very good league. Until the end we will not know who the champion is. There are many points left.” He condemned the French coach.