“We want to turn things around, think positive and put in a great performance”, said the coach.
Zinedine Zidane spoke to the media at a virtual press conference in the build up to the Clásico, which will be played at Camp Nou (Saturday, 4pm, CEST): “We know what we’re going to encounter, an empty stadium, but it’s the same for every team. It’s a different Clásico, but it’s still a Clásico and it’s always special. It’s important for us to start tomorrow’s game well”.
“A Clásico is a Clásico, with two good teams going head to head. It’ll be a good match despite the situation and the empty stadium. It’s the best way to turn the situation around because it’s the match we’ve got tomorrow. We want to turn things around and and that is what we are going to do by playing our game”.
Sergio Ramos
“We know he’s our captain, our leader, and we’re not going to risk him. He’s recovered and he’s going to be with us. It’s about being one hundred percent and Sergio is”.
Two consecutive defeats
“We’ll see after the game. We got off to a bad start in the sense that when we conceded a goal, we found it hard to get our heads up again. We found it difficult to play against a team that sits so deep and we didn’t find a way through. But this is football and there are ups and downs and you have to accept that. We want to now focus on a different game tomorrow and forget about what happened the other day. It happened to us recently, we’ve had some problems and in football the situation is a bit strange for every team, but we have the chance to put in a good performance to show our strengths”.
Do you like to go to Camp Nou as the underdog?
“We’re not going there as underdogs or anything else. Every game has its own story. That’s the beauty of football because you can have a bad run, a bad game. In the end the good thing about football is that you have the chance to respond and change the situation again. And that is what we’re going to try to do. Think positive and put in a great performance of football”.
How did you prepare for the Clásico?
“We’ve had 48 hours to prepare for the game. The situation is what it is, the game as well. We want to put in a good performance, to start well and to play well, to be strong. Confidence comes with what you do on the pitch. If you play well you will gain confidence, and that’s what we want to do tomorrow”.
Barcelona
“They’re a team that are always strong with every coach. Everyone brings their own things, but Barça is always Barça. They are a team that knows how to play good football and can always make things difficult for you. I won’t go into the details. What I do know is that we’re going to have a difficult game and that’s good for us. To get out on the field and play a game that is going to be difficult from the start”.
