- Home >
- Soccer >
- LaLiga >
- La Liga Preview: Zinedine Zidane Prepares Real Madrid For Trip To Basement Boys Levante
La Liga Preview: Zinedine Zidane Prepares Real Madrid For Trip To Basement Boys Levante
Zinedine Zidane is not about to panic after the Madrid derby setback as Real Madrid prepares to travel to lowly Levante in La Liga.
Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane will not make wholesale changes for Wednesday's Liga trip to Levante despite the weekend derby disappointment against Atletico Madrid.
Antoine Griezmann scored the only goal after halftime as Diego Simeone's men made the short trip back across the capital with three points secured.
Zidane refused to concede his team's chances of winning La Liga this season, despite the Blancos now lying four points shy of Atletico and 12 adrift of leader Barcelona with as many matches to play.
There was mutiny in the air at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday, with factions for and against club president Florentino Perez chanting against one another, while Cristiano Ronaldo later claimed he was "misinterpreted" over comments that appeared to criticize teammates deputizing for injury absentees Gareth Bale, Marcelo and Pepe.
But Zidane retains a sense of calm and will continue to trust the bulk of his first-team squad.
"I am not going to go crazy," he said afterwards. "When we win I don't let it go to my head and when we lose I don't go crazy. I am going to prepare for the [Levante] game. I will put out the best XI and that is that.
"It is the first defeat at home [since Zidane replaced Rafael Benitez as coach in January] and I wasn't expecting it. I knew that it was a difficult game. When you have chances you have to put them in."
One player who might be charged with doing just that from the start against Levante is youngster Borja Mayoral.
The 18-year-old forward came off the bench at halftime against Atletico to make a second Liga appearance in place of the injury Karim Benzema.
With the France international facing up to a month on the sidelines with a hamstring strain, Mayoral has a chance to stake his claim and continue a busy period.
Seven days before the Madrid derby, he completed 90 minutes and rounded off the scoring in a 3-1 win for Real Madrid Castilla against Sestao, before netting two superb strikes as the Under-19s beat Manchester City by the same scoreline in the UEFA Youth League.
"I put him on because Karim came off and I had to put on a nine," Zidane explained. "He is doing well and it was his opportunity. I would have liked him to score but he wasn't able to. I am happy with his work, he showed character."
Madrid's relative struggles are thrown into stark relief by Levante, whose 3-0 defeat at Villarreal on Sunday left it rooted to the foot of the table.
"It's time to keep fighting," said coach Rubi. "The last two away games have not left good feelings and I understand that people are upset. We must turn the page."
Key Opta Stats
- Real Madrid has won one of its three Liga away games under Zinedine Zidane, drawing twice.
- Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 13 goals in his last 12 matches against Levante in all competitions.
- Goalkeeper Keylor Navas had a higher save percentage in Liga matches for Levante (80.24 percent) than he does for Real Madrid (75.26 percent).
- With four goals and one assist, Jose Luis Morales has been involved in five of the eight goals Levante netted in its past four home matches.
- Levante won on three of its previous four outings at the Ciutat de Valencia, with Barcelona's 2-0 triumph on Feb. 7 the only blot on that sequence.