Zidane does have objectives in LaLiga
The Real Madrid coach, who came back to the club with the side already out of the Champions League and Copa del Rey, has targets to hit.
Real Madrid may be out of the Champions League and the Copa del Rey and in reality unable to catch Barcelona in LaLiga, but Zidane does have an objective: win the 10 remaining games in LaLiga. Nothing new for the Frenchman - he did it in his first season in charge at the club, 2015-16, though it wasn't enough to see them lift the title, which ended up going to Barcelona. Real Madrid did finish just a point behind their eternal rivals that year, having managed to slash 11 points off the Catalan side's lead in just four matches, but it wasn't enough. Just as this season even winning all 10 remaining games won't be enough to catch Barça who will be 12 points ahead if Real Madrid beat Huesca this evening (kick-off at 20:45 CEST at the Bernabéu).
Real Madrid's season run-in
The 10 remaining games are perfectly split between home and away, five at the Bernabéu, five on the road. The rivals: Huesca, Valencia, Eibar, Leganés, Athletic, Getafe, Rayo Vallecano, Villareal, Real Sociedad and Betis. And each rival too has their own goals. Three are in the relegation battle. Another four are looking at getting into Europe. While the remaining three have little to play for, stuck in mid-table as they are.
In his first season, when Zidane won the last 10 games in the league in a row Real Madrid played: Las Palmas, Sevilla, Barcelona, Eibar, Getafe, Villarreal, Rayo Vallecano, Real Sociedad, Valencia and Deportivo, managing to beat Barcelona at the Camp Nou (1-2) with a Cristiano Ronaldo goal in the 85th minute and thrash Sevilla 4-0 in the Bernabéu. In total they scored 29 goals and conceded seven, scoring 2.9 goals a game and conceding just 0.7.
Zidane's other objective: improve Real Madrid up front
Real Madrid under Lopetegui and Solari suffered badly in attack, with the worst scoring stats of any Madrid side since 2006-07. This season Madrid have scored 94 goals in 47 games, at two a game. Capello's Madrid (who of course won the Liga) scored just 91 in 50 games at 1.8 per game. Zidane is clear the side needs to raise the bar on the goal-scoring front and will be focusing much of his efforts on that facet of Real Madrid's game over the final 10 games of the 2018-19 season.