Real Madrid coach, Zinedine Zidane, claimed to have played his best team when defeated by Real Sociedad 3-4 in the Copa del Rey quarter-final match, Santiago Bernabeu, Thursday (6/2) local time.
Zinedine Zidane played a number of reserved players against Real Sociedad. Three of them are Nacho Fernandez, James Rodriguez, and Brahim Diaz. This tactic is considered by some to be the culprit of Real Madrid’s defeat.
“I don’t think we chose the wrong team. I put out a team that I think can do well,” explained Zidane as reported by Marca.
Real Sociedad’s winning goals were created by Martin Odegaard (22 ‘), Alexander Isak (54’, 56 ‘), and Mikel Merino (69’). Meanwhile, El Real were only able to score three goals through the actions of Marcelo Vieira (59 ‘), Rodrygo (81’), and Nacho (90 + 3 ‘).
“There is an opposing team that has played well and injured us. We are all in this team, whether when everyone wins or when everyone loses. It’s a bad feeling because we lost,” added Zidane.
“The opponents played well and we had a lot of problems because of their pressure. Besides, we also made mistakes when defending.”
The defeat left Zidane still unable to win the Copa del Rey trophy – the only title bhe was unable to achieve. However, he believes there is no specific reason for that.
“This is just football. The game has ended in defeat, period, that’s all. We now have to think about LaLiga,” Zidane continued.