Criticism made Madrid stronger says Zidane after derby win

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RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT

VIDEO SHOWS: NEWS CONFERENCES WITH REAL MADRID COACH, ZINEDINE ZIDANE AND ATLETICO MADRID COACH, DIEGO SIMEONE, STILL PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE MATCH

SHOWS:

MADRID, SPAIN (DECEMBER 12, 2020) (LA LIGA / MEDIAPRO - FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NO RESALES)

1. REAL MADRID COACH, ZINEDINE ZIDANE ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE

2. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) REAL MADRID COACH, ZINEDINE ZIDANE, SAYING: (OFFICIAL TRANSLATION)

"I'm not sure to be honest; not right it's books but the outer boxing is done in such a way that you can work out what's in the box so would you like me to wrap it with actual wrapping paper his what's important is that we have to believe in what we do and that's something that we always do as a team. The players know that there are complicated moments throughout the season but the players believe in what they have to do. There are always united and we know as a squad we can do a lot of good things and today we proved that. We showed everyone how we can play and Madrid knows how to play. And I'm also just very happy for the team because as you say there are things that are obviously painful for the players but it also makes you stronger. That's also part of the game - criticism - so you have to use it to your advantage and that's football but the players have more than enough character to pull through and that's what this team has."

3. NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS

4. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) REAL MADRID COACH, ZINEDINE ZIDANE, SAYING: (OFFICIAL TRANSLATION)

"Yes I am very happy with all three aspects (matches against Sevilla, Borussia Moenchengladbach and Atletico Madrid in the last week). We showed in those games that we were able to show the level that we can give. We did well to beat Sevilla last week, managed to qualify as top of the group (in the Champions League) midweek and today we put in a very good performance to beat a great team. We competed well from the first minute and that was the difference. We can be very happy with how the team played because we haven't won anything yet. It's only three points but we have to be satisfied and happy with the work and how well we did it today."

5. ATLETICO MADRID COACH, DIEGO SIMEONE ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE

6. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ATLETICO MADRID COACH, DIEGO SIMEONE, SAYING: (OFFICIAL TRANSLATION)

"I still take a lot of important things out of this defeat. Of course as a manager I've learned a lot as well out of this game that I can improve on and they were by far the better side today; you could see that on the pitch. We can't lie to ourselves, that was the key. They were definitely superior to us but maybe not in every aspect of the game. They were definitely precise and clinical in front of goal and we weren't able to score our chances."

7. NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS

8. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ATLETICO MADRID COACH, DIEGO SIMEONE, SAYING: (OFFICIAL TRANSLATION)

"I think we're a side that also has to try and be able to be consistent with our game play because we know that we can play very well but we know that after today's game we have to improve and I still believe that we don't have to be worried. Of course everyone can give their opinion on today's game, especially on how we played in the first half and we can be criticised for that because we deserve to be criticised for our first half performance but it was also everything that I say to you as well. It's not excuses but it's the reality of the fact as well that we put in a very big shift the other day as a team because we didn't want to be knocked out of the Champions League. We weren't able to seal our qualification earlier in the group. We were very anxious to get a win midweek and obviously it doesn't have a lot to do with today's defeat but it is a small factor. We played badly today. I wasn't able to possibly interpret this game a bit better and turn it around as the game progressed and the team couldn't respond to what the game was demanding and now we have to rest up well and prepare our next game. We have Copa del Rey which will be good for us to get a lot of players who need minutes to get some game time and Saturday we have to compete again in this league that we now is going to be very good for everyone."

9. NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS

10. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ATLETICO MADRID COACH, DIEGO SIMEONE, TALKING ABOUT JOAO FELIX'S REACTION TO BEING SUBSTITUTED, SAYING: (OFFICIAL TRANSLATION)

"I understood the game as I saw it. I wanted to have fresher people on the pitch with fresh legs. Joao (Felix) had put in a very big shift as well as (Hector) Herrera and everyone who was taken off. I wanted a lot more fresh legs in the middle of the park. We were still losing against Real Madrid and that wasn't a positive for us. So, we had to try and make a move forward and we wanted to shore things up as well with fresher players in the middle of the park because the team competed well until the end but we just weren't able to find that goal that would have made things a lot easier for us and we couldn't close the gap. I understand that my players are frustrated if they are substituted because I know what it is, I was a player myself but everyone always wants to give more and wants to play for the entire 90 (minutes) but you have to ask the player that came off, that's the best explanation that he can give you. But I can't explain to you why that was his reaction. I can only say why it is; I assume it's because he wanted to play the full 90 (minutes) or maybe the player wanted to give more than how much they did. There's many things that could have been the reason. So, when you have the opportunity you can ask him or anyone who gets frustrated and that's the best way to express it though."

11. NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS

MADRID, SPAIN (DECEMBER 12, 2020) (REUTERS PICTURES - ACCESS ALL) (MUTE)

12. STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF ZIDANE AND SIMEONE SMILING BEFORE THE MATCH

13. STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF REAL MADRID MIDFIELDER CASEMIRO (RIGHT) CELEBRATING AFTER THE SCORING THE FIRST GOAL ALONGSIDE CAPTAIN, SERGIO RAMOS (CENTRE) AND DEFENDER, FERLAND MENDY (LEFT)

14. STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF REAL MADRID DEFENDER, DANI CARVAJAL STRIKING THE BALL WHICH RESULTS IN ATLETICO MADRID GOALKEEPER, JAN OBLAK CONCEDING AN OWN GOAL

15. STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF CARVAJAL CELEBRATING WITH RAMOS

16. STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF REAL MADRID PLAYERS CELEBRATING THE SECOND GOAL

17. TWO STILL PHOTOGRAPHS OF SIMEONE REACTING DURING THE MATCH

18. STILL PHOTOGRAPH OF REAL MADRID STRIKER, KARIM BENZEMA SMILING

STORY: Real Madrid's coach Zinedine Zidane said they used the criticism thrown at them in recent weeks to their advantage in an emphatic 2-0 La Liga win over city rivals Atletico Madrid on Saturday (December 12).

Less than two weeks ago, Real had been smarting from shock defeats by Alaves and Shakhtar Donetsk and faced a triple whammy of tough looking fixtures against Sevilla, Borussia Moenchengladbach and Atletico, with Zidane's future on the line.

But they won all three matches, returning to the form they showed in the latter stage of last season when they stormed to the title. They are now in third place, three points behind league leaders Atleti albeit having played a game more.

A first-half header from Casemiro and an own goal from Atleti keeper Jan Oblak after the interval gave Madrid a commanding victory and ended Atletico's unbeaten run in the league, although they still lead the standings.

The Frenchman was in euphoric mood and praised many of his players, with a special mention to midfield duo Toni Kroos and Luka Modric who he said were in the same form as when they led Madrid to three consecutive Champions League titles.

But he emphasised that Real still had a lot of work to do to maintain consistency.

Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone said he and his players had got it wrong.

Atletico went into the game after beating RB Salzburg 2-0 to secure their place in the Champions League last 16 but were played off the park by their neighbours, and Simeone said they were feeling drained after their trip to Austria.

Simeone provoked the outrage of the club's record signing Joao Felix when he took off the lively Portuguese on the hour mark and replaced him with Saul Niguez while leaving on fellow forward Luis Suarez who had offered very little.

Suarez did come off later for Geoffrey Kondogbia and Atletico finally got their first shot on target but they were unable to find a goal to get them back in the match.

The Argentine coach defended his decisions, however.

(Production: Tim Hart)