Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane insists goal-shy Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema “will be back scoring soon.”
The pair remain stuck on a League goal each after they fired blanks once more in Madrid’s 3-0 win against Las Palmas on Sunday, with Casemiro, Isco and Marco Asensio instead on hand to dispatch the islanders.
“After what happened in our last few matches, it was important to win,” the Coach said after the game.
“Everyone won’t be able to rest as many of the players are going to join up with their international teams, but for the others, they’ll have two days of rest and then we’ll think about the next game.
“It’s not been a bad start to the season. If you watch our last two games, yes, we’ve had a bit of a slump, but we know we can improve.
“It was important to win. We found it difficult at first, but we upped the tempo in the second half and I’m happy because the players needed [the win].
“Youngsters? It’s important for them to play, especially Vallejo, who was starting only his second match but did very well.
“Asensio scores when he plays, Ceballos hasn’t been lucky because he picked up a knock, but I’m happy with how everyone played.
“Achraf? He has no problems. I wanted to rest him because he’d been playing a lot. Nacho and Casemiro? I’m not going to drop them just because they have four yellow cards.
“Casemiro also scored, so it’s better to have him on the pitch. Ronaldo’s drought? He’s not scoring, but he’s been useful and ultimately, he’ll be the one that makes the difference.
“Ronaldo not celebrating Isco’s goal? You always look at the negatives, but I can tell you that he was very happy to set up Isco for his goal.
“We know that he likes to score, but we’re all convinced that he will make the difference for us.
“Isco and Asensio top scorers? It is what it is, but Cristiano and Benzema are doing well on the pitch.
“Isco’s goal came from a Cristiano Ronaldo cross. Now he’s giving assists and the runs have changed.
“Bale? We intend to push him. He couldn’t be with us, but we have 15 days to get him in perfect nick.
“After that, we’ll see how we manage him, but the idea is that he’ll be ready after the break and for the game against Atletico?
“Whistles for Benzema and applause for Ronaldo? I don’t know, I didn’t see it, but what we want to do is keep working.
“It’s true that when you look at the League, I don’t know how many goals they’ve scored, but they’re the first ones to be unhappy about it. Karim and Cristiano will be back scoring soon.
“Atleti? Every match is different, but we’ll have time to prepare for that match. I don’t know how we’re going to get there or how we’re going to play it, but we’ve played well so far.”
“Varane with France? Yes, he’s going to go with them and show what he’s got. We’ll see how it goes with them.
“Return of BBC? We’ll be able to work with them and do things, and it’s good that we’ll have all three back.
“We’ll be able to do some interesting things over the next two weeks, but I can’t explain what they’ll be.
“It’s a good time for us to work in front of goal, which is where they want to make a difference.”