Zidane insists son Luca is in Madrid team "on his own merit"
Luca started Sunday's 3-2 win against Huesca and Zidane was criticised
Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane came out in defence of his son Luca ahead of Wednesday's La Liga game against Valencia.
Luca started Sunday's 3-2 win against Huesca but Zidane has been criticised for starting his son ahead of Keylor Navas, who had only just returned from international duty -- Thibaut Courtois is injured.
"I won't change anything," Zidane said. "Those that know me know that Luca is here on his own merit and nothing else. He is part of this squad and of this club since he was 16 or 17 years olf.
"He's from the academy. The same as we speak about [Dani] Carvajal and many other players, Luca is one of them, nothing else. People want to make it personal, but I don't mind."
Zidane also insisted once again that he doesn't want French defender Raphael Varane to leave this summer. Juventus are the latest club to be linked with him.
"I can't imagine Real Madrid without Varane and I don't want to,' the coach added. "He's a young player that's spent eight years here. He has many good years in front of him and he's doing really well."
CHANGES
Zidane admitted that there will be changes to the squad in the summer, although he didn't want to talk about individuals at this point.
He said: "There's a lot of talk about next season, but we must respect the players that are here. Talking about cleaning [the squad], to me, seems like a lack of respect.
"I will confirm that we are going to have to make changes, but it's not the moment to speak about that. There will be time later."
One situation that needs clearing up is the goalkeeping position. Courtois and Navas are currently competing for the gloves, with Luca as their backup, and there's been an ongoing debate throughout the season about who should be Madrid's No.1.
"For now, I have three good goalkeepers and we're going to finish the season with them," Zidane said. "We will see what happens next season but I will say one thing: there will not be any debate. That much is clear."
