Zidane, because of his familiarity with the Italian giant where he spent five years he said he would have preferred not meeting Juventus in the quarter final of the UEFA Champions League after the Friday draw decided that.
This forthcoming match is to be played April 9th and 11th and it is a replay of last year’s Champions League final in Cardiff which Madrid emerged victorious in a 4 – 1 win.
“I spent five years over there and it was an important club in my career as a player, so obviously it always has an effect on me when we play Juve,” said Zidane, who as a Juventus player lost the 1998 Champions League final to Real Madrid.
“I would have preferred to avoid Juventus for many reasons,” said the coach who joined Madrid as a player in 2001, scoring a wonder-goal to clinch the Champions League final with a 2-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen.
“But we drew Juve and now I have to concentrate on that and forget about everything that happened to me there as a player even if it’ll always be there in the back of my mind.”
“They look as solid as they were last year,” said Zidane of the Juve outfit renowned for rock-solid defending and clinical breakaway finishing.
Zidane was also quizzed about Gareth Bale’s state of mind and was asked if the Welsh winger was depressed at Madrid after missing selection for both legs of the last-16 victory over PSG.
“He’s a very important part of our squad, he is happy to be with us and he has showed that. You can think whatever you want but he isn’t sad,” Zidane insisted.
