Casemiro: "My contract renewal? That's a difficult question..."
The midfielder gave an interview to Esporte Interativo's Tatiana Mantovani and spoke about the Man City game, Bale and contract talks with Real Madrid.
Casemiro is the player who Zidane has used the most this season - he chatted to Esporte Interativo's Tatiana Mantovani to preview Friday's Champions League tie against Manchester City. Madrid need to win and score more than one to progress to the quarter finals, but that's what Casemiro reckons will happen. He was less forthcoming about negotiations to renew his contract however, which expires in 2023. "That's a difficult question. Now's not the moment to talk about that," he said.
It's been a difficult year for Gareth Bale, how does he seem to you? "All of us have been through tough difficult moments in our lives. Bale is working hard, he knows it's not the best moment of his career but he's working, he has our support, and the support of the club and the coach... He's a brilliant player and he is extremely important for us because he can change a game at any moment as he has shown lots of times. We are counting on him. When he's at his best, he's in the top three in the world, but we have to be honest and recognise that it's not a good moment for him".
The Manchester City game: "Before football was suspended we were going through a rough patch, but now we are back to our 'new normal'. City have a home advantage but won't have their fans behind them and that favours us a little but the players they have and the team they've got is the same. It's going to be a fantastic game and a difficult one for both teams. Because of the result from the first leg (1-2) it's a little more complicated for us but we are Real Madrid and here, we have the best players. We have a chance to go through".
New contract with Madrid: "That's a difficult question... I don't think now is the right moment to talk about it. We have to think about City and nothing else. The club's in a delicate moment and when the right time comes along, my agent will discuss it".