Zidane: "We were lacking in confidence, which is the most important thing" | OneFootball

After the match against Shakhtar Donetsk, Zinedine Zidane spoke in the press room at the Alfredo Di Stefano's stadium about the first match of the season in the Champions League: "It's not a good feeling, obviously. It started to come to together in the end. We made a mistake for the first goal, but it’s true that we lacked confidence and we didn’t play well. Fortunately, and I'm happy for my players, who reacted well in the second half and changed something because they don't deserve results like this. It was a bad game, a bad night. I'm the coach, I have to find the solution and I didn't get it tonight. It's difficult for the players".

"I don't think it's a lack of desire. It's true that we didn’t start the match well and we conceded after a mistake and from there we lost our confidence, especially after having lost in LaLiga. It's difficult to lose two on the bounce, but that's football. We've been through some difficult moments in the past and had to lift our heads up and stick together. We've got a game on Saturday and we have to have to focus on that and put in a great performance".

Bad attitude "Nothing was right. When you concede three goals in the first half it's because nothing was right, that’s for sure. After the mistake for the first goal, it became a difficult game for us. We weren’t at it, and were lacking in confidence, which is the most important thing".

Putting things right "I feel like I can do it and I'm going to try. That's for sure. The players are going to try to do that too. That doesn't change anything about today's game. We have to put things right and we will. We know the situation we're in, it's our second bad performance and now we have to prepare well for Saturday's match to turn things around". “I'm responsible. As the first-half was negative for my side, it means I did something wrong. The players tried to press high from the first minute, but everything changed when they went ahead. We found it difficult. We can't forget about the previous games, today is the second defeat. We're not happy with the defeat, but we're not going to let it get to us. We want to turn it around together and working together is how we will do it”.

Moving forward “I feel for the players because they have helped me win a lot of things. It was a bad game and they don't deserve it. But that's football.  You have to keep going and think that if today is grey, tomorrow will be sunny.  That's what it's about. Football can be difficult sometimes. I remain positive and believe in this squad and in what we are going to do: move on from this”.

On el Clásico “I don't have to respond. We'll go into the match on Saturday at 4pm and we'll prepare for it before. What can I say about what people think? Nothing. We'll see. For us it's important to stay calm right now and whatever I answer is not positive. It's a bad night and we're going to change that”.

On having difficulty sleeping “It's a difficult defeat to take. Today is a bad day and tomorrow we're going to prepare for Saturday and focus on the next match”.