- Title: Zidane defends Courtois after Real struggle to Champions League draw with Bruges
- Date: 1st October 2019
- Summary: MADRID, SPAIN (OCTOBER 1, 2019) (AGENCY POOL) REAL MADRID COACH ZINEDINE ZIDANE ARRIVING AT NEWS CONFERENCE NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) REAL MADRID COACH ZINEDINE ZIDANE, ON REAL'S POOR FIRST HALF, SAYING: "The first half, well we could blame Thibaut (Courtois) but it is all of us, me first. That is what we did in the first half. I am the first responsible. Fortunately we reacted and I hold on to the reaction because that is the good thing about football, you have two halves. That is what I told the players during half-time, if we keep (playing) like this we are going to lose the match but we had 45 minutes to change it." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) REAL MADRID COACH ZINEDINE ZIDANE, ON REAL'S RESPONSE, SAYING: "We always have to try to win the game from the first minute and try to make the rival uncomfortable. I don't want to speak bad about the rival but if we press them as we did in the second half they don't exist. Nobody can exist here (Santiago Bernabeu), no. REPORTER ASKS ABOUT THE INJURY TO THIBAUT COURTOIS "(Thibaut) Courtois is not good (injury)." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (French) REAL MADRID COACH ZINEDINE ZIDANE, SAYING: "We know we have to do well in the future. It is not because we didn't want to play well in the first half, it is not because we weren't ambitious in the first half it is purely because we weren't focused enough and because we didn't initiate to the plan that we had. Afterward, when our opponent scored they started to feel confident. They never played here before so they realised they had nothing to lose and kept on attacking and after that it became difficult." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS ZIDANE LEAVING NEWS CONFERENCE JOURNALIST TYPING BRUGES COACH PHILIPPE CLEMENT ARRIVING AT NEWS CONFERENCE NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Flemish) BRUGES COACH PHILIPPE CLEMENT, SAYING: "Well, this was a historic game. We made history in so many ways. This is a Belgium team that scored two goals against Real Madrid. We played so well. To me this is a historic night, there is no difference between a draw or a win in that regard." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Flemish) BRUGES COACH PHILIPPE CLEMENT, ASKED WHETHER REAL MADRID AND PSG ARE STILL THE FAVOURITES TO GO THROUGH THE GROUP, SAYING: "Of course they are. Just look at their squads, the players list. Have a look at the starting eleven and those who started on the bench. They've got incredible squads, there is a huge difference between them and us but we can't keep thinking about other teams, we need to think about ourselves." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS CLEMENT LEAVING NEWS CONFERENCE
- Embargoed: 15th October 2019 22:30
- Keywords: Champions League Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane Thibaut Courtois Bruges Santiago Bernabeu
- Location: MADRID, SPAIN
- City: MADRID, SPAIN
- Country: Spain
- Topics: Soccer,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA001AZ9MKVZ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Zinedine Zidane says he blames himself rather than goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who endured another miserable night as Real Madrid stumbled to a 2-2 draw against Belgian side Club Bruges at the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday (October 1).
Record 13-time European champions Real were facing a chastening defeat having slipped to a 2-0 deficit on home turf only for Sergio Ramos and Casemiro to rescue the Spanish giants from complete embarrassment.
A first-half double from Emmanuel Bonaventure - with Courtois beaten easily on both occasions - had set up the possibility of a seismic shock before the second-half intervention.
Former Chelsea goalkeeper Courtois failed to reappear for the second-half.
Real, who were beaten 3-0 at Paris St. Germain two weeks ago, are bottom of Group A with one point after two games, while Bruges are second with two. PSG lead the way with six points after beating third-placed Galatasaray 1-0 in Turkey
(Production: Silvio Castellanos and Elliot Richardson) - Copyright Holder: POOL (CAN SELL)
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
