Zinedine Zidane After Brugge Draw: 'The Two Goals We Conceded Were Laughable'
October 2, 2019
Zinedine Zidane has condemned the goals his Real Madrid side conceded in their 2-2 UEFA Champions League draw with Club Brugge on Tuesday as "laughable."
Emmanuel Bonaventure Dennis scored twice in the first half to give the Belgian side a shock 2-0 lead at the Santiago Bernabeu after 45 minutes.
In the lead up to both goals, Bonaventure stumbled before managing to find a way past Thibaut Courtois, who was withdrawn at half-time (U.S. only):
Luka Modric was also culpable for the second after he was robbed of the ball in his own half:
Real salvaged a point thanks to second-half headers from Sergio Ramos and Casemiro.
Zidane was impressed with the fightback from his side, but he was critical of how they went behind in the first place, per Rodrigo Faez of ESPN FC:
"The result is bad, but the reaction is good. We cannot be happy with the first half because we produced a 45 minutes like never before. I am not happy with the point because we wanted three, but I did like the reaction. The two goals we conceded were laughable. We weren't concentrating where the opponents are at their strongest. They scored the first goal, they went forward, and then scored the second. I insist we cannot be happy, but you always have to think about the positives."
On Courtois, Zidane added he was "in a bad way and could not continue for the second half," and he defended his No. 1 goalkeeper, saying "I am the main culprit."
Real lost their opening match of the 2019-20 UEFA Champions League 3-0 to Paris Saint-Germain, who won 1-0 away at Galatasaray on Tuesday.
As a result, Los Blancos sit bottom of Group A and need to turn their European form around if they are to advance to the knockout stages.
Their next Champions League match against Galatasaray in Istanbul on October 22 is now a must-win game for Zidane's side.
After winning the tournament three seasons in a row between 2016 and 2018, Real were knocked out last term by eventual semi-finalists Ajax.
That was disappointing, but a group-stage exit would be unacceptable for a club defined by their European success, and Zidane needs to turn his side's form around in the Champions League or his job might be under threat.