Defiant Zidane talks tough amidst Real Madrid crisis

Defiant Zidane talks tough amidst Real Madrid crisis as the lose to Shakhtar Donetsk 2-0 in the Champions League

Zinedine Zidane is under fire after yet another loss in the Champions League
left them on the brink of crashing out. (Photo credit: Real Madrid CF)

Never in the modern era has it been said that Real Madrid crashed out of the group stage of the UEFA Champions League, but in the wake of the loss in Ukraine on Tuesday, Zinedine Zidane and Real Madrid are on the brink of exit from the elite championship.

 

Real Madrid’s chances of qualifying for the round of 16 of the champions league got badly dented after Shakhtar Donetsk beat the 2-0 in Ukraine on Tuesday and they can even crash out of Europe altogether if they lose to Monchengladbach in their final group game and Inter beat Shakhtar.

After a goalless first half, the Ukrainians scored twice in a very eventful second half but Rafael Varane left too much to be desired with a direct error leading to Dentinho’s opener before Manor Solomon added the second with eight minutes of normal time remaining.

The result earned the Donetsk based outfit an unprecedented double over the Spanish giants after a 3-2 victory over Madrid to open their Champions League account in October.

Zinedine Zidane said after the defeat that he won’t throw in the towel despite suffering his fifth defeat in ten games with losses in the domestic league to Cadiz, Alaves and Valencia and then the embarrassment home and away against Shakhtar.

"No. Not at all. I won't resign," Zidane said in his post-match news conference when asked if he was considering his future. "We'll keep going. 

In the first half, we were really good. I think we deserved to score first, that would have changed things. Their goals hurt us a lot."

"We've had complicated moments and we always will," Zidane said. "We're on a bad run of results. That's the reality. But we have to keep going.

I think we prepared well, we played a great first half. We have one game left and we have to win and think about going through."

Real Madrid host Borussia Monchengladbach on the final day of the group stage and they must win to advance to the next stage after Inter Milan won away in Germany to throw the group open.

Zidane would hope to have Sergio Ramos back for the important game but Hazard will be out for three weeks.