Zinedine Zidane: The first half was phenomenal

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane was pleased after his team's 3-2 win over Levante on Saturday at the Santiago Bernabeu.

“We've taken all three points after a phenomenal first-half performance, full of goals, good football and desire," said the French coach.

"We found it more difficult in the second half. When the opposition gets an early goal, things change a bit. We need to focus on playing like we did in the first half for the full 90 minutes. That'd be great for us.

“In the second half we had chances to score goals but we just didn't quite have it physically… I'm not looking for excuses, but it's true that we had many players out and others who haven't had much rest. Casemiro couldn't go on, Sergio's got a calf issue... James and Hazard have only had four sessions with the group. We'll focus on the first half and take it step by step. All we have to do is to play like we did in the first half for longer."

On debutant Eden Hazard he said: “He's very direct, he's superb with the ball at his feet and all he needs is a few more training sessions under his belt. He's only trained with the team four times. We know how good he is but we've got a lot of games to come and we have to manage the situation. I don't want any more injuries. Hazard will bring us an awful lot. He's not ready to start games yet because he's only completed four sessions."

 

On two-goal Karim Benzema: “All I can say is, I hope he keeps this up. It's important for us to have Karim playing like this. We're pleased, we noticed the fans' ovation. We need to carry on like this and try and improve on the second half. I've been hearing how Karim's last game was his best for a very long time."