“Athletic haven’t lost many games recently and they’re looking better than at the beginning of the season”, added the Real Madrid coach.


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Zinedine Zidane has spoken to the press at Real Madrid City on the day before his side’s clash with Athletic. The Whites’ coach assessed the LaLiga match day 33 meeting at the Santiago Bernabéu (Sunday, 4:15pm CET): “We’re up against a side who haven’t lost many games recently. They’re playing much better than earlier on in the season. They’re a good team and games against them have always been difficult. I’m sure they’ll make life hard for us but at the same time it’s a good match for us in terms of improving. We want to win at home and play better”.

“We’re ready to do a better job. We want to win the game. We’re playing at home and we need to pick up another victory. We’ll do our best to translate what we’re working on during the week on to the pitch. I’m not worried, but we’re certainly training better than we’re playing. We’ve got six games left to get over this hump and we have to make sure we’re playing better before the end of the season. We’re looking good and getting much better in training”.

VAR
“It’ll improve. It’s a system that’s just starting out and it will get better as time goes on. What I do find odd are the replays. Sometimes we don’t all see the same thing or there might be an odd replay. Technology and the implementation of VAR have happened to make things clear and to limit the chance of errors being made. Then it’s up to the referee to interpret the images he sees on the screen. It will get better and we all hope that one day it’ll be perfect for everyone involved”.

Injury to Odriozola
“We’re frustrated to lose him, particularly because it’s quite a bad one. It’s his clavicle and he’ll undergo surgery this evening. It’s unlikely we’ll see him play again this season. He’s fine and I hope the operation goes well and we’ll have him back quickly. But he won’t play until next year now”.

Vinicius Jr.’s progress
“I’m pleased to see him back with us but we have to take it slowly because he’s been out for two months and now we have to work with him gradually. That’s how we’re looking at it. He’ll have to work hard next week and then we’ll see on a day-by-day basis. We have to take it easy, we don’t want to rush him back. He’s shown his quality and he’s a super player to have looking to the future, at just 18 years of age. I’m pleased for him”.

Bale
“We haven’t discussed the future and we’re not about to. We’re focused only on tomorrow’s game, nothing more”.