Zinedine Zidane claimed he has given little thought to whether his job security hinges on winning LaLiga as Real Madrid bid to get back on track against Barcelona on Sunday.
Madrid go into the latest Clasico having won just one of their past five games in all competitions, with the LaLiga loss at Levante followed up by a home midweek defeat to Manchester City in the Champions League.
Should they crash to a third straight loss in Sunday’s crucial game at the Santiago Bernabeu, reigning champions Barca would go five points clear in the title race with 12 games remaining.
Madrid are already out of the Copa del Rey and face a big task to avoid exiting the Champions League at the last-16 stage, yet Zidane said he is not worried about whether he needs to win LaLiga to stay in his job.
“I don’t know, that question is for someone else,” he said at a news conference on Saturday.
“I know what I need to do. We’re going to try and win a competition this season, that’s what we’re working towards.”
Barca will arrive in the Spanish capital buoyed by the fact they have not lost a league Clasico at the Bernabeu since 2014.
Moreover, Madrid are winless in three games at home, with Zidane acknowledging the situation is far from ideal ahead of a fixture with their big rivals.
“It is a delicate moment because there are three games that we have not won in the stadium,” the Frenchman admitted.
“But the ones who know about football know that these things can happen.
“We need a positive spirit. We do not listen to what is said. We need our people with us from the first minute to 90.
“I understand that the people may be upset but we need the people and we will give everything.”
Part of the problem has been a lack of goals.
Top scorer Karim Benzema has not found the net in his previous five appearances and Sergio Ramos is the only other Madrid player to have scored more than three times in the league.
Though Eden Hazard will be absent due to injury, and Gareth Bale has gone almost an entire year without scoring at home, Zidane highlighted how Madrid were unbeaten between October and February.
“I am not worried because for four months we were winning games,” he said of the lack of goals.
“Even without Eden. I don’t like that he is injured, but we have won. We need to be solid.”
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