Real Madrid boss Zidane: "I'm not going to resign"

Real Madrid head coach Zinedine Zidane spoke to the media after watching his side go down to a damaging 2-0 loss to Shakhtar Donetsk in Champions League Group B on Tuesday evening.

The defeat - which follows Saturday's surprise home LaLiga reverse to Alavés - leaves Los Blancos outside the last-16 qualification spots ahead of their final match in the group, against leaders Borussia Mönchengladbach.

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What are your thoughts on the defeat? Has resigning gone through your head?

“No. I’m not going to resign. And we’re going to carry on. In the first half, we played well. It would have been a different game if we’d got the first goal. Their goal did us a lot of damage, because we were playing well. We had two or three chances, and hit the post. It didn’t want to go in.”

Is this your toughest moment as Real Madrid boss?

“We’ve had tricky moments and we’re always going to have them. We’re on a bad run of results - there’s no getting away from that. But we have to keep on going. This was a cup final, we prepared for it very well, and put in a good first-half display. We know that we have another game to go that we have to win. There are always tricky moments at this club.”

Do you feel you have the strength to turn things around?

“Yes, I do. I’m going to give my all, as I always do. In LaLiga [against Alavés] we didn’t deserve to win, but we did today. That’s football. We have to pick ourselves up and focus on the next game. I always say the same, but that’s the way it is. We have to focus on the next game, which is important too.”

Message of optimism:

“It’s a tough moment, but we have to show the character and the pride that we have. It’s a shame. We’re going to have to win our next game because today it wasn’t to be. We’re going to keep the faith and carry on fighting.”