Zidane: "When the players need to rise to the occasion, they do..."
"We put in a great game from start to finish, playing with character, we were focused," said Madrid's coach, who also lamented Maradona's death.
Zinedine Zidane attended the media after Real Madrid recorded a vital win over AC Milan at San Siro to keep their Champions League hopes alive,
Maradona's death: “It's a huge loss for the world in general and for the world of football. Visions of the '86 World Cup are still fresh in my mind, I was 14 years old. He was unique. My idol was Francescoli but Maradona was a player that all of us loved. He was amazing. I was lucky enough to be able to tell him that I thought he was a brilliant player. I am really sorry about it - especially for his family. I can't find the words to express how I feel about it. We are all very saddened by the news”.
Madrid, happy with tonight's result: “We put in a great game from start to finish, playing with character, we were focused. We knew that three extremely important points were in play. We brought the best out of ourselves tonight. We played a very good game and it was important that we did that. I'm happy for the players because we they have to rise to the occasion, they do and they were superb tonight”.
Do Madrid need to be under pressure to perform? “It doesn't change anything - this is football. We played well against Villarreal and deserved to take three points. You have to give everything out o the pitch, we did that the other day and again today. We deserved to win this game and we had it under control from start to finish. The other day… Sometimes the rivals make things difficult for you and you have to accept it”.
Hazard says he needs playing time to get back to his best: “Yes, he needs to play - no doubt about that. He needs to play, start feeling good and that's what we are doing with Eden. We know he has the quality and we need it”.