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Zidane wants Real Madrid to treat LaLiga matches like a World Cup

Football

By BBC | Jun 14, 2020

Real Madrid's French coach Zinedine Zidane gives a press conference at Real Madrid sports city in Madrid on August 15, 2017, on the eve of the Spanish SuperCup second leg football match Real Madrid CF vs FC Barcelona. [AFP PHOTO / JAVIER SORIANO]

Zinedine Zidane wants Real Madrid to treat their remaining 11 games in LaLiga like a World Cup as they aim to overhaul Barcelona to win their second league title in eight years.

Real sit two points behind Barca and return after three months away against Eibar today, when they will play in their new training ground home at the Alfredo di Stefano Stadium.

LaLiga is due to finish on July 19, meaning there will be fixtures every day while clubs will be in action almost every three days for five and a half weeks.

Asked if felt like the start of a World Cup, Zidane said yesterday: "I like the comparison, I buy into it. My players know what it's like to play in the final stages of a World Cup or European Championship.

"The important thing is the preparation and I think we have prepared very, very well. Our first match starts tomorrow and we will give everything. I have faith what we have done with the players and now we have to show it on the field."

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La Liga matches are being played behind closed doors because of the coronavirus pandemic, although league president Javier Tebas has said stadiums could be allowed to be 10 to 15 per cent full before the end of the season.

"I don't like playing without fans, that's my opinion," Zidane said. "But as always, we have to adapt. This is the situation. There is a government with people who do their work and we have to do ours."

Real are playing at the Alfredo di Stefano Stadium to allow renovation work to continue at the Santiago Bernabeu this summer.

The capacity is only 6,000 which would mean far fewer fans could attend if the ban is relaxed.

"My players want to play in front of an audience and right now, there isn't one," Zidane said. "But if those in charge say we can, well then we'll see."