Zidane: "Casemiro will play. We'll see later about Saturday"
The Real coach spoke about the Copa game, while also expressing the club's sorrow over the Colombia air disaster: "We are truly saddened."Real Madrid-Deportivo: LaLiga matchday 20
Zinedine Zidane spoke to the press ahead of Real Madrid’s match against Cultural Leonesa in the Copa del Rey, with his side leading 7-1 from the first leg, and touched on the Clásico and the air disaster in Colombia involving players and staff of Brazilian top-flight side Chapecoense.
“Before starting this press conference I’d like to offer my support in the name of everyone at the club to the family and friends of those people involved in the accident in Colombia, and to Chapecoense. We are truly saddened by what happened,” Zidane said after he entered the press room. “It’s a tragedy. You can see that we are all a little upset.”
"Cultural are a good side"
Speaking about the match against Cultural, Zidane said: “We did a good job in the first leg but we have to play the return game and we have to do our jobs well again. We will try and play well and try to win the game for all the fans that will come to watch. Cultural are a good side. They are top of their [Segunda B] group and they are playing well.”
Ahead of the Clásico on Saturday in Camp Nou, Zidane will aim to rest some of his key players, hand match time to some of his recovering personnel and give some Castilla youngsters a run-out in the Bernabéu including, quite possibly, his son Enzo.
Castilla call-ups
“The three [Álvaro Tejero, Martin Odegaard and Enzo] will be with us tomorrow. Maybe there’ll be another [Castilla player] as well, but those three and the rest will make up the side; everybody who is available for tomorrow.”
Casemiro
Of a potential return for his Brazilian defensive midfielder Casemiro, who has been out for over two months with a broken fibula, in Camp Nou Zidane said: “We’ll see. He’ll get some time tomorrow. Later we’ll decide about Saturday. He is back training with the squad and theoretically he is ready to play.”
One player who will not on show in the Bernabéu is Cristiano Ronaldo, who Zidane confirmed would be given the night off: “It’s a day for Cristiano Ronaldo not to play, and he won’t,” Zidane said.
