Zinedine Zidane will continue to coach Real Madrid after the drama of the Copa del Rey, competition in which the white team was eliminated on Wednesday. Alcoyano, a modest rival in Second B, brought to light the miseries of the reigning league champions. The French coach, who met with his players to ask them to forget the past and focus on the rest of the season, will sit on the Mendizorrotza bench this weekend.
Madrid are not considering dismissing Zidane and are not waiting for the resignation of the French coach. Concern in the board chaired by Florentino Pérez conditioned the day to the second elimination in just six days, but the club does not plan to take action in the short term. After falling defeated in the semifinals of the Spanish Super Cup, Madrid was also eliminated from the Copa del Rey.
The economic situation facing the club due to the pandemic and the state of the coaching market add to Real Madrid’s lack of intention to change coach in the middle of the season. If there is no European elimination in the round of 16 of the Champions League against Italian Atalanta, it will be at the end of the year when Zidane is taken into account to make a decision for the next campaign. The French coach came hours after the elimination against Alcoyano in the sports city of Real Madrid and before training he starred in a short five-minute talk in front of the long faces of all his players. In the midst of a crisis of results, with only one win in the last five games and two eliminations, Zidane called for unity to overcome the bad moment and effort to re-sign a streak of victories that return hopes in the season. “We can all give a little more,” he said.
Poor planning, a change in style of play, the failure to bet on Jovic, the management of young players and the lack of tactical solutions are some of the criticisms that major analysts make of Zidane. “I am the coach, the responsibility is mine and I will take it on as usual,” the coach said. Newspapers published in Madrid described the removal as “embarrassing”. The French coach defended himself. “This is football, these are difficult things because it’s a Second B and we had to win the game, but in the end we didn’t get it. It’s not a shame, these are things that happen in a footballer’s career. I take full responsibility and we will keep working. We will not go crazy, “he summed up. Norwegian Martin Odegaard did not train with the rest of the squad on a morning of serious faces with the absence of Sergio Ramos and the return to the group of Dani Carvajal.
A tournament full of surprises
The elimination of Madrid was not the first surprise of this edition of the Copa del Rey as Atlético de Madrid was beaten a few days ago by Cornellà. Navalcarnero, who left Eibar out of the tournament, starred in another of the unexpected results. The single-match format has multiplied the chances of teams with fewer resources.
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