Zidane trusts 'plan C': Coentrao to start against Granada
The Portuguese has played just 207 minutes, which is 4% of the team's total minutes, and Zidane tried to protect his player by saying he wants desperately to improve.
Fabio Coentrao could start in Zinedine Zidane's team that takes on Granada on Saturday. The Portuguese is the only player who has slipped through Zidane'e rotation policy. He has only played 207 minutes (4.25% of the team's total), which has been caused by Coentrao's myriad of injuries that has left many scratching their head over his physical state.
Coentrao's season started after he returned from Monaco on loan in the summer. He did not sit on the bench until September 26th against Dortmund in Germany but he did not feature. In order to see him on the field, we would have to wait another month, on October 26th, when he played 32 minutes against Cultural Leonesa in the Copa del Rey. What seemed to be the end of an ordeal only happened to be the beginning of a bigger mystery. He would appear and disappear from trainings with no explanation given from the medical staff.
He did start against Sporing Lisbon in the Champions League and gave away a silly penalty, stating after the game that "I'm playing poorly and I have to make a change".
Coentrao's strange and difficult season
That changed never happened and while Zidane has defended his player whenever prodded about his whereabouts, there have been times when the French manager has struggled to supply a sufficient answer. "He hurt something but it's not much," he said on one occasion. "He is the first one who is not happy with himself," Zidane continued. At the insistence of journalists, Zidane assured them that it was "in his rectum, it had nothing to do with the injury he had before."
In his four seasons at the club, Coentrao has never played over 45% of the minutes contested by the team throughout the season. With a foot and a half out of the club, Coentrao has the chance to give rest to Marcelo agaist Granada and show what he is worth to the team and any possible suitors eyeing him up for a move in the summer.
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