Zidane: "Bale is an important player and he always will be"
The Real Madrid boss spoke to the press ahead of the Alavés game and made reference to Bilbao: "People just want to go to watch a game of football with their kids."
Zinedine Zidane spoke to the press ahead of his side’s match on Saturday against Alavés at the Bernabéu.
Violence in Bilbao and PSG ultras: “Firstly, we would like to express our sorrow for what happened and the death of the police officer. Our thoughts are with his family, which is the most important thing. As for PSG, I’m not going to talk about that, that’s not my issue. I am only interested in football. In general we do not condone violence in any form or place. It’s difficult to understand when these things occur. We hope that it never happens again in a football stadium.”
Ceballos’ 29 seconds in Leganés: “I felt terrible, I was really sorry for him and I told him that. I’m really happy with him, he’s a lovely lad, he works hard and even though he hasn’t played much he continues to work hard. He’s a young player and he has to remain here. I remember the game against Alavés earlier in the season, when he scored two goals. He has to keep fighting and believing that he will get his chance.”
Bilbao violence: " I think that all clubs want to combat this problem"
Protection offered to ultras by clubs: “I don’t think that’s the case. I think that all clubs want to combat this problem. People just want to go to watch a game of football with their kids, their family. They just want to have a nice day out. I can only talk about Real Madrid and here that it what we want.”
Bale, Benzema, Ronaldo: “I will always back my players and I want them all to stay here.”
Bale on the bench: “Bale is an important player in this squad and he always will be. He is in a process of training and working his way back into the team, bit by bit. What I am interested in is the team and the squad, not just one player.”
