The French manager believes his side are well-stocked after picking up a tough three points
Real Madrid head coach Zinedine Zidane has no plans to sign new players before the transfer window shuts following his team’s thrilling 3-2 win over Real Betis.
Sergio Ramos scored a late penalty as La Liga champions Madrid claimed their first win of the 2020-21 season at 10-man Betis on Saturday.
After Federico Valverde’s 14th-minute opener, Betis turned the match on its head with two goals in three minutes via Aissa Mandi and William Carvalho prior to half-time.
Barcelona-owned Emerson scored an own goal three minutes into the second half before being sent off with 23 minutes remaining, and Madrid made the most of their numerical advantage when Ramos converted an 82nd-minute penalty.
Zidane was asked about Madrid’s transfer activity pre-game, with the Spanish giants quiet since the market re-opened, having allowed the likes of Gareth Bale, James Rodriguez and Brahim Diaz to leave.
Quizzed again on possible new signings post-match, Zidane told reporters: “No. We spoke about this before. I’m happy with the squad that I’ve got.
“We are what we are and we’re going to try to have a successful season.”
— Goal (@goal) September 26, 2020
Reflecting on the match itself following Madrid’s goalless draw against Real Sociedad in their season opener, Zidane said: “When you’re behind it’s difficult to change the dynamics of the game but we managed it today. It’s crucial to do that every once in a while.
“We had a lot of chances, and people we talk about how we don’t score enough but today we hit three and could have had more. I’m very proud of all the players, they’re working brilliantly. We have to keep it up.”
“The referee is there to review the action,” added Zidane after Betis defender Marc Bartra was penalised for handball. “I think that in the end it’s just what happened. He’s in charge. I never get involved with the referees and I’m not going to get involved today. The most important thing for us is the game we played at a difficult ground.
“We can be happy with the work done, we had to work hard for it and we managed to take all three points, which is the most important thing.”
“In the end it was a very complicated, difficult game,” he said. “The players have given their all. It’s three very important points for us at a complicated ground and against a team who have just won their first two games. We are happy. We know there is a long way to go and that we can and will improve.”
Zidane also handed a rare start to out-of-favour forward Luka Jovic, who continues to be linked with a loan move away from the Santiago Bernabeu.
Jovic – playing alongside Karim Benzema – was tripped when through on goal as Emerson was shown a red card past the hour-mark, and Zidane said: “What I was looking for was to play in the opposition’s half with a different formation.
“We can play in different ways and one of them is with the two forwards. We can be happy with the game because in the end we got all three points.”
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