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What's the story?
Zinedine Zidane's Real Madrid fell to a 7-3 defeat in the hands of Atletico Madrid last night in the International Champions Cup. Despite this heavy defeat, the manager is confident that his side will enjoy a good season.
In case you didn't know...
Los Blancos finished last season without any silverware after being knocked out by Ajax in the Champions League and finishing third in the La Liga.
Since the transfer window opened, Zidane has signed Eden Hazard, Luka Jovic, Ferland Mendy and more. This star-studded squad is expected to perform better as compared to the last season. However, Real Madrid were 4-0 down in the first 27 minutes of the match against Rojiblancos.
The heart of the matter
As much as it was a pre-season match, the result clearly points that there is still a lot of work to do for Zidane and his side.
Speaking in a press conference (via Marca), the Frenchman claimed,
"We will be motivated."
"Our season is going to be good. I am convinced."
Besides being upbeat about the upcoming season, Zidane admitted that the game today was far from the best. He said,
"We can't be happy with today. But with everything else, I'm convinced that I have a team that will compete very well."
"It doesn't worry me but it hurts. When you lose... you don't play to lose."
"But it's happened and we can't look back. It was a bad game."
The 47-year-old also attributed the lack of intensity as the reason why Real Madrid lost the game.
What's next?
After the defeat, Real Madrid will face Tottenham in the semi-final for the Audi Cup which is held at Allianz Arena. However, Zidane has a couple of injury concerns after Marco Asensio suffered a long-term injury. Besides Asensio, Luka Jovic and Ferland Mendy are also expected to be on the sidelines for some time.
