Zinedine Zidane hailed Borja Mayoral for a “phenomenal” performance at Real Sociedad but insisted his general play was just as impressive as his goal.
Mayoral scored and assisted in Real Madrid’s 3-1 win at Real Sociedad on Sunday, the striker picked by Zidane after Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo were ruled out for the trip to Anoeta.
“Mayoral? He’s part of the squad, he’s young but I knew he could be,” the Coach said after the game.
“He can play an important role and today he showed it. I’m glad because it’s what we want from the players, that when they play, they try to do it well, and he did so.
“For him, the goal’s very important, but more than the goal is how he played, and he did phenomenally. He moved well and capped off [his performance].
“Bale? I’m very happy because we talk a lot about him, but he’s shown what he is and we have to be patient with him.
“Ultimately, it’s down to the entire team. We had a good first half and started well, and with this intensity, it’s difficult for the rest to stop us.
“Bale on the break? Not only does he have that, he has a lot of good things. He does better with space because he’s very quick, but he’s also very good technically,
“When there’s no space, he also handles it very well. For his goal, with the pace he went, running 70 metres at 30km/h, he then had the composure to finish off the move.
“Second half? We know that La Real can put you in trouble if you leave spaces. We read the game well because if you let them play near your defensive line, it’s difficult, but we put good players there.”