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Real Madrid played out a 0-0 draw with Real Betis in La Liga on Sunday which put a huge dent in their title hopes.
Zinedine Zidane's side are now two points behind Atletico Madrid who are at the top of the table, having played a game more than Diego Simeone's side. Los Blancos are also in danger of slipping further down the table, as Barcelona are now only 3 points behind them, having played two games less.
Real Madrid need to turn their fortunes around quickly as they face Chelsea in the first-leg of their UEFA Champions League semi-final on Tuesday.
With that being said, here is the latest Real Madrid news on 24th April, 2021
Zidane looks ahead to Chelsea game
Zinedine Zidane seemed annoyed in his post-match press conference after Real Madrid's 0-0 draw with Real Betis. The Frenchman seemed confident that his side will have enough to get past Chelsea on Tuesday, despite their disappointing performance against Betis. He told Marca:
"We dropped two points, that's clear. We were very good defensively but lacked a lot in attack. We lacked something, we weren't great up top. But we drop two points and it's as though we're bad. We've lost two points, but we're focused on Tuesday. There's a long way to go in LaLiga [Santander] and we're going to fight until the end. It's not over today. We're ready for the next game, which is going to be our most difficult of the entire season. We were lacking something to win, that's true, but we're fine."
Florentino Perez still believes the ESL will come to fruition
Florentino Perez is adamant that his proposed European Super League has still not failed. The Real Madrid president saw his plans for the ESL crumble before his eyes last weekend, but the Spaniard is still confident that it will go ahead in the future.
He told AS:
"I'm not going to explain now what a binding contract is. But the clubs cannot leave. Some of them, because of pressure, have had to say that they're leaving. But this project or one like it will go forward, and I hope it's soon. The Super League still exists, and the members are still in it. Now we have given ourselves some weeks to think, while we face the violence that some people, who don't want to lose their privileges, have used to manipulate our project."
Real Madrid team update
Zinedine Zidane provided a team update in his post-match press conference prior to Tuesday's clash against Chelsea.
Former Blues star Eden Hazard made his long awaited return from injury against Real Betis. Zidane was very impressed with the Belgian's 15-minute cameo in the game. He told the press:
"He was really impressive. We're happy to see Eden because he's a player who is going to contribute for us."
Dani Carvajal also made an appearance, but Zidane was a bit more cautious with the Spaniard's usage, hoping to get more regular starters involved in the clash against Chelsea:
"We'll see what part he plays. The other day he played 20 minutes and he played a little more today. The plan is to get Ferland [Mendy] back, and to get Toni [Kroos] back. But we have to wait. We have to recover."
