Zinedine Zidane enjoyed a winning return on Saturday as Real Madrid claimed a 2-0 victory over Celta Vigo in La Liga, and the Frenchman insisted after the game that he will count on all of his players in the weeks until the end of the season.
The newly re-appointed head coach made a number of bold selections in his first game back in the home dugout at the Bernabeu, restoring players such as Gareth Bale, Isco, Marco Asensio and Marcelo – who had all previously been out of favour under Santiago Solari.
Isco and Bale both rewarded Zidane’s faith with a goal apiece, whilst Keylor Navas was also drafted in ahead of Thibaut Courtois.
After the game, as quoted by Madrid’s official website, Zidane said: “Nobody is going to take away what they have done here.
“I have a squad of 25 players and I will use everyone. Courtois and [Sergio] Reguilon have done well so far. Keylor is very good and so are Marcelo, Isco and Bale. They looked good to me, Isco got a goal. I will count on them all because they have shown positive things.
“The complicated aspect for a coach is that I will need everyone and sometimes there are players who are left out.
“Today Keylor played and Courtois is going to play too. I also have Luca [Zidane]. I have three very good goalkeepers and we’ll see. Real Madrid needs two or three great goalkeepers and the coach will always have to make difficult decisions.
“I’ll count on them until the end of the season and then we’ll see. Real Madrid needs at least two great goalkeepers because the season is long.
“There will be changes, but I will not be looking at these games if everyone does well in a game to see if they stay or leave.”
On a more personal note, Zidane admitted that it was a positive return to the dugout for him and insisted that he feels at home with Los Blancos.
“I felt great,” Zidane added. “Nothing much has changed but I always feel at home here. I’ve been involved in almost every area of the club and I feel fantastic. There’s a great atmosphere and all I’m thinking about is finishing the season on a high.
“It wasn’t perfect today but there were lots of positives.”
