Real Madrid pulled out a 2-2 draw at home against Valencia, with Marco Asensio netting a classy brace along the way.
Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said his team's profligate finishing was to blame as they dropped two points in Sunday evening's 2-2 La Liga draw at home to Valencia -- however he backed both Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale after both were whistled by the ever-demanding Bernabeu crowd.
Madrid went ahead on 10 minutes through Marcos Asensio's latest long-range golazo, but Valencia were level eight minutes later when young midfielder Carlos Soler arrived unmarked six yards out to finish a neat team move.
After Benzema and Bale were whistled for missing chances, Valencia debutant Geoffrey Kondogbia put his side 2-1 up from the edge of the box after a Madrid defence missing suspended Sergio Ramos and injured Raphael Varane was cut apart again.
Asensio equalised with seven minutes left with a superb 20-yard free kick and Madrid's last chance went when Benzema's header was clawed onto the post by visiting goalkeeper Neto in added time.
The Los Blancos coach told the postgame news conference at the Bernabeu that he was not happy to have dropped two points, but understood that over the course of the season there were games when the ball just would not go in.
"I cannot be happy with the result," Zidane said. "Although we played excellently and deserved more today. We have dropped two points, but I am very proud of the players. At 1-2 it is not easy, but we have fought until the end, and had chances to win the game.
Karim Benzema took the brunt of the Bernabeu's boos after missing a number of close-range chances.
"The difficult part is to make the chances and today we had seven or eight clear chances. We should have won the game, but we did not. We know that La Liga is very long and this will happen again."
Benzema in particular took the brunt of the fans' frustration, after he missed close-range chances in each half.
"The fans here do what they wish," Zidane said. "The important thing for us is that Karim gets chances. He did not score them today, but that's not important. This is football. Sometimes the ball does not go in. But we do not have to give an opinion on what the fans think."
Bale was also whistled as the €101 million Galactico was replaced with the score 1-1 and 15 minutes remaining, but Zidane said the Welshman remained a key player for him.
"He is an important player in this squad," Zidane said. "Gareth is Gareth. We will keep working, and keep counting on Gareth, like all the others. That's all."
Asensio's latest scene-stealing performance has led to many Blancos pundits calling for the youngster to replace Bale in the first-choice XI, however Zidane maintained that he would not be making any big judgments based on today's game.
"I hope Asensio keeps going like this, but it does not affect Gareth," he said. "Gareth had his chances to score today, it didn't happen. But this is football, I cannot reproach my players, just the opposite.
"I am very happy with the game they played. In La Liga it is very long, we will drop points other times too. We were up against a team who were very well organised, made it difficult for us. There were two good teams on the pitch today."
Dermot Corrigan is a Madrid-based football writer who covers La Liga and the Spain national team for ESPN FC. Follow him on Twitter @dermotmcorrigan
Comments
Use a Facebook account to add a comment, subject to Facebook's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your Facebook name, photo & other personal information you make public on Facebook will appear with your comment, and may be used on ESPN's media platforms. Learn more.
Source: espn.co.uk