Zinedine Zidane refused to quit on Tuesday night despite watching Real Madrid slip to a 2-0 defeat by Shakhtar Donetsk that leaves them with 90 minutes to save their Champions League campaign.
The man who made history winning three straight European Cups could become the first coach to fail to qualify from the group stage with the 13 times competition winners.
The loss, the second in the space of four days, leaves Los Blancos in real danger of missing out on the knockout stages of the Champions League.
“I’m not going to resign, [it’d be] no use,” Zidane said in Kiev. “We were very good in the first half, but we were missing goals. We were pressing well, playing well… The ball didn’t want to go in. We had chances, [we hit] the post… and then it got complicated.
“I’m strong and I’m going to give everything. I think we deserved to win. We had chances. We can’t let our heads drop. When you have a bad run, you have to keep going.
“It’s a bad run in terms of results, but we have to keep going. It was a ‘final’ today. We prepared for it well, but the ball didn’t go in. We have a game to win and [let’s] move on.”
Zidane has been the subject of criticism this season due to the team’s apparent lack of direction in their style of play.
“I don’t think there’s a problem, lots of things are coming together [at the same time],” Zidane added. “We created chances, it’s not to do with our game. We’re struggling to score goals. An opening goal would’ve made the game easier for us.”
Madrid were helped by Inter’s victory over Borussia Monchengladbach later on Tuesday which leaves them still with their fate in their own hands.
If they beat the Germans at home next week, one point above them on top of the group, they will qualify.
Madrid could still finish top if they win and Inter beat Shakhtar, but they could also finish bottom if they lose and Inter win.
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