Champions League: ‘I’m not going to resign’ says Zinedine Zidane after Real Madrid’s defeat against Shakhtar

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane. AP

Kiev: Zinedine Zidane dismissed suggestions that he could walk away from Real Madrid, saying the Spanish giants did not deserve to lose after losing 2-0 to Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday, their second defeat to the Ukrainians in this season’s Champions League leaving their hopes of reaching the last 16 on the balance sheet.

Substitutes Dentinho and Manor Solomon scored goals in the second half in Kiev and Shakhtar once again surprised the 13-time European champions, who had already won 3-2 in Madrid in October.

Shakhtar had lost their last two Group B matches against Borussia Moenchengladbach by a 10-0 aggregate score, but this victory allowed them to overtake Real in second place in the group with one match remaining.

Gladbach leads the section by one point, while Shakhtar now has the advantage over Real thanks to his superior head-to-head record.

However, Inter Milan’s 3-2 away win over Gladbach not only kept the Italians alive, but also limited the damage for Real, who now know that a home win against the Germans this week that is coming will make them pass, regardless of how Shakhtar fares in their game. last game.

Madrid have dropped out of their group in every year since 1997, so failing to qualify would be seen as a disaster, but Zidane said he would not leave the club that has so far led to three Champions League wins and two Champions League titles. League plus two spells as a trainer.

“I’m not going to resign, at all,” Zidane said. “We are always going to have difficult moments and we are in a bad streak, but we have to keep going.”

“I have the strength to turn the situation around and I’m going to give my all for that, including the players,” added the Frenchman, whose team also lost at the weekend, losing 2-1 at home to Alavés in La Liga. .

“We played well and deserved more. We just have to lift our heads and think about the next game.”

Struggles without Ramos

Real were returning to the scene of their victory over Liverpool in the 2018 final, but it seemed like a shadow of what it was in the cold and snow at Kiev’s Olympic Stadium, and the result further underlined how much they miss the defensive talisman Sergio. Ramos when He is not there.

This was Real Madrid’s seventh defeat in the last nine Champions League games that they have played without Ramos, who is currently injured.

Perhaps this game would have turned out differently if Marco Asensio had scored in the fifth minute instead of turning a Karim Benzema cross to the post, but they went on to fall to a third loss in their last five matches in all competitions.

Dentinho had replaced the injured Junior Moraes in the first half and the Brazilian scored the first goal just before the hour.

Ferland Mendy intercepted a ball from Viktor Kovalenko in the box, but only managed to put it on a plate for Dentinho to pass Thibaut Courtois and enter.

The Ukrainian champions secured their victory on the counterattack with eight minutes remaining, when Israeli international Solomon picked up the ball midway and advanced unopposed before taking his place.