Real Madrid 3-2 Málaga: Zidane's post-match press conference

Real Madrid head coach Zinedine Zidane admitted that his side "can and must play better" after beating Málaga 3-2 in LaLiga to provisionally move to within seven points of leaders Barcelona.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored just his second league goal of the season to win Saturday's clash at the Bernabéu with a quarter of an hour remaining, after Real had twice conceded equalisers to the Andalusians.

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Zidane's post-match press conference:

Analysis of the win: "We started well and got the opening goal, and played pretty well for 35 minutes. Then the second half was a bit more difficult, and we gave a lot of balls away in a way that's unusual for us. But the main thing was to pick up the three points, so we're happy."

Character: "When you're pegged back to 2-2 with not long to go... This team has character. We know that we can and must play better, but, as always, the main thing is that we've won the game. Tomorrow [when Barcelona visit Valencia], we'll see what happens in terms of cutting the gap."

Real Madrid's jittery home form: "We like playing here. We've put in good displays here, and the opening period [of the game] today was good. Then things crept into our play that don't tend to."

Cristiano's LaLiga struggles in front of goal: "He had chances, [but] you've also got to give credit to the goalkeeper. I remember the game against Betis, and the way their keeper played... Today it was the same. But at the end of the day, Karim [Benzema] has scored, Cristiano has scored, and we've picked up three points: we're always going to stay positive, starting with me."

Ovation for Benzema: "He's a player who always gives everything. Having scored against APOEL [in the Champions League in midweek], he's very happy [to have scored again today]. He deserved his ovation and we're going to look to keep him going in this vein."

Ins or outs in January? "There's certainly going to be no departures; everyone's going to stay. As for arrivals... Anything can happen. [But] we're happy with the squad we have; we have a squad with depth and quality. At the moment we're not talking about departures or arrivals."

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