“We were less convinced of ourselves in the second half.
“We did not play with fluidity and when we lack that we run into problems. But we cannot blame our result on the heat, our problems today were not physical ones.”
This is Real Madrid’s manager Zinedine Zidane speaking on the club’s 1-1 draw with Valladolid in the La Liga on Saturday.
Madrid’s early optimism was punctured by an 88th-minute equaliser by Valladolid.
Karim Benzema looked to have fired Madrid to a second straight win after last week’s confidence-boosting 3-1 victory at Celta Vigo when he scored in the 82nd minute with a splendid piece of skill.
Reuters/NAN notes that the Frenchman, Madrid’s top scorer last campaign, controlled a pass with his back to goal and swivelled before striking his finish into the far corner to give the home side a deserved lead.
Serbian striker Luka Jovic had gone close to breaking the deadlock earlier in the game when he headed against the crossbar barely a minute after coming off the bench.
Valladolid had offered little in attack but grabbed a shock equaliser with only their second shot on target when Sergi Guardiola struck through the legs of Thibaut Courtois.
The goal plunged a happy Santiago Bernabeu crowd into silence and left Madrid with four points after two games.
“I’m left with a bitter taste because we did the hardest thing, which was to score in a second half where we did not produce our best performance,” Madrid coach Zidane told a news conference.
“It’s a bad feeling when you concede an equaliser so soon after scoring. We played well in the first half, but we were unable to find the net.”
“We were less convinced of ourselves in the second half.
“We did not play with fluidity and when we lack that we run into problems. But we cannot blame our result on the heat, our problems today were not physical ones,” he said.
