Zinedine Zidane says he is not concerned by Real Madrid’s level of performance against Tottenham but admits the Premier League side were ‘superior’ in every aspect on Wednesday night.
Real Madrid’s poor start to the season took a significant turn for the worse as Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen scored to give Tottenham a 3-0 lead at Wembley, with a consolation from Cristiano Ronaldo doing little to soften the blow.
Instead of criticising his side, Zidane chose instead to praise the quality of their opponents, admitting they had outclassed the reigning European champions in ‘all aspects’ of the game.
Zinedine Zidane admits Tottenham outplayed his Real Madrid side in every area of the pitch
Dele Alli scored twice to put Tottenham in charge of Champions League Group H
Zidane told reporters: ‘I’m not worried and I never will be this season. Sometimes there are periods when the goals fly in. Sometimes it just doesn’t want to go in.
‘We came up against a better team. In all aspects of play they were superior.’
Asked if Tottenham can challenge for the title, he continued: ‘Yes, any team can win the Champions League and Tottenham are certainly one of them.’
Having suffered an embarrassing 2-1 reverse at the hands of Catalan side Girona last weekend, Real Madrid now sit eight points behind Barcelona in the league.
Zidane says he is not concerned by the continuing poor form of his Real Madrid team
To boot, losing to Tottenham means they are likely to finish second in their Champions League group and face a tougher draw in the first knockout round.
Admitting all is not well in the Real Madrid dressing room, he implored his players to knuckle down and to accept they came up against a side who deserved to beat them.
He said: ‘I can’t say everything is great in the dressing room. We have to turn it around. We played against a team that played very well and deserved the win.’
Real Madrid’s next game is a home tie against 18th-placed Las Palmas and anything but a win is likely to put severe pressure on Zidane’s position.
Mauricio Pochettino’s men are among the contenders to win the Champions League
