During a special media day in Madrid today, the head coach of "Real" Zinedine Zidane answered journalists' questions at a press conference.
This Saturday, the French-led "white" team awaits a season-defining match - the UEFA Champions League final against Liverpool. "Real" has won the tournament for the past two years, but their appetite has not diminished - this season, the Madrid team failed to win other major tournaments.
Z. Zidane is not sure if Liverpool is hungrier for trophies: "I don't know how hungry they are, but it's obvious that we want this victory more. No one is hungrier than us. We are Real - a club that always wants more titles and we do everything to achieve our goals."
Asked to comment on the Liverpool attacking trio (Firmino, Mane, Salah), Z. Zidane was not inclined to praise them: "There is a lot of talk about these three players, but Liverpool made it to the final by playing as a real team. They deserve to be here, just like us. My job is to properly prepare for the match and try to exploit the opponent's weaknesses."
Z. Zidane had much more praise for his colleague Jurgen Klopp: "I have competed against him before, but we all see that he is doing a phenomenal job. He is a great coach - he proved it both at Dortmund and at Liverpool. I have a lot of respect for him."
Asked how he would evaluate the season if Real failed to win this title, the strategist said it would not be the biggest loss of the season.
"I don't think that would be a failure. A big failure for me was when we lost at home in the King's Cup knockout games. This club always wants to win, but sometimes you have to accept failures. If we give our all in the final, I won't consider it the biggest loss."
