Zinedine Zidane has revealed that he doesn't want his Real Madrid side to face former club Juventus in the first knockout round of the Champions League.
Zidane watched his side throw away a 2-1 lead against Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday to end up finishing second in group F and, as a result, los Blancos could end up facing the Serie A champions in the first stage of the knockout rounds.
In quotes published by the Daily Mail, however, the former Juve star admitted that he was concerned about possibly taking on Massimiliano Allegri's men, but failed to fully disclose the reasons as to why.
He said: "I don't want to face Juventus for two reasons,' he said. 'But we can't do anything about that we just have to wait for the draw on Monday."
Karim Benzema's brace had put Real in the driving seat at the Bernabeu before goals Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang Marco Reus ensured Dortmund shared the spoils and finished top of their group.
Clearly annoyed at the late equaliser for the Bundesliga side, Zidane said that he had mixed feelings following the clash at the Bernabeu.
He continued: "My feelings are mixed. We let them off the hook. The game was there for us to win but you have to stay alert right until the end. But we got the draw.
"They are first and we are second. We did everything to finish first but it was not possible. "I'm very proud of the players there were a lot of good things out there. We just needed to be more concentrated in the last ten minutes. We had the chances to get the third goal and we couldn't. Now we have to rest and prepare for Saturday."
That match on Saturday, at home to Deportivo La Coruna, could see Zidane and his charges make history by breaking the club's longest run of matches without tasting defeat - a stat currently held by Leo Beenhakker.
Despite helping to lead his side on that impressive run of form, however, Zidane insisted it was his players that deserved the credit for being on the cusp of history.
He added: "The players deserve the congratulations. They are the ones who fight and run in every game."
Source : uk.yahoo.com
loading...