Zinedine Zidane insists Real Madrid have not given up on their chances of landing the La Liga title, but admits there is no room for any more slip-ups.
Heading into today’s game at relegation-threatened Granada, Zidane’s men are four points behind leaders Barcelona, who also have a game in hand and a head-to-head advantage after their 4-0 Clasico win at the Bernabeu in November.
But with 48 points still available, Zidane believes there is still plenty of time for Madrid to reignite their challenge.
“We all believe that we can win La Liga, and in particular the players do,” the French coach said.
“They are aware of the situation and they know just how tough it will be, but they also believe that we can turn things around.
“We’re going to keep going until the end, until it is mathematically impossible. We are ready to tackle everything that lies ahead.”
Today’s game at Granada is Zidane’s second away match in charge of Los Blancos, and he is hoping for a better outcome than his only previous road trip which resulted in a frustrating 1-1 draw with Real Betis – meaning Madrid have won only one of their last five league games away from home.
“We can’t afford to drop any more points,” he admitted. “Only a win is good enough for us and we must put in a different performance to the one we delivered against Betis.”
Although today’s game is only his fifth as Madrid boss, Zidane is already proving to be highly consistent in his pre-match messages and again repeated his demand for his players to make a strong start.
Last weekend’s home game with Espanyol saw Los Blancos race to a three-goal lead after 16 minutes, and his three home games in charge have remarkably seen Madrid score nine goals in the first 25 minutes.
Zidane clearly believes that the pattern of the opening stages is the most important aspect to determining the quality of his team’s overall performance, as he added: “The key for us is to be ready from the first minute. With the quality in our side, if we get off to a good start and open the scoring it makes everything easier.”
James Rodriguez should continue on the right flank with Gareth Bale still out with a calf injury.