Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane has revealed the message he gave to his players despite their failure to wrest the Liga BBVA title away from Barcelona.
Luis Enrique’s Catalan giants won the championship on Sunday after beating Granada 3-0 away thanks to a fine hat-trick from Luis Suarez.
Real did their part on the final day, when they won 2-0 at Deportivo La Coruna to move up to 90 points, but ultimately, Barca—on 91—had just too much for Los Blancos.
Despite suffering a significant slump in April, Barca ended the campaign with five straight victories to win their 24th title.
Real have been in fine form since Zidane replaced Rafael Benitez earlier in the campaign, and despite being pipped at the post, the French legend has revealed that he told all of his players just how proud of them he was.
“In the end you have to think that Barcelona are ahead and we cannot change that,” Zidane began, as reported by beIN Sports. “They have won the league and we did what we could – well done to all.
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“I’m happy for all the players and what we have done,” he continued. “You can have difficulties but we have never slumped our shoulders, have always fought and I gave this message to the team.
“I am very proud of everybody.”
Zizou proceeded to confirm that the club’s focus had now turned to Atletico Madrid, and Real’s upcoming Champions League final against their city rivals.
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