Zidane relaxed as Real Madrid get ready for PSG clash

ZinedineZidane insists he is not letting the pressure get to him as he prepareshis Real Madrid side for today’s huge Champions League last-16 clashwith Paris Saint-Germain at the Santiago Bernabeu.“I’m very happy.We all live for these moments. I don’t feel any particular pressure,” arelaxed Zidane said at a press conference at Real’s Valdebebas trainingcomplex yesterday.“We have prepared as we usually do. Certainlytomorrow (Wednesday) there will be a bit more pressure than usual, butI’m going to enjoy it. My future does not bother me much just now.”Zidanehas been going through the toughest period of his short managerialcareer, with Real fourth in La Liga, a huge 17 points behind leadersBarcelona, albeit with a game in hand.That has led to speculationthat the Frenchman’s future as coach is on the line against a feared PSGside, with the two-time defending European champions putting all theirhopes in the Champions League going into the first leg of this tie.“Iam just trying to get on with my work. This is my passion,” saidZidane, who has won eight trophies as Real coach. “I have nothing that Ineed to demonstrate.” The tie is a special one for the Marseille-bornZidane, as he faces a French club for the first time since beingappointed Real coach in January 2016. The second leg will be in Paris onMarch 6.“Playing against PSG as someone from Marseille, there hasalways been a rivalry there, but I’m not going to think about that. Ijust want a beautiful game of football.” Zidane got the full backingof Real’s Brazilian left-back Marcelo, who said the former World Cupwinner has a great relationship with the stars in the Madrid dressingroom.“He is a person who is very close to us and who helped us somuch when he arrived here,” said the 29-year-old. “He is a great coachwho has done so much for this team and will keep on doing so to getthings back to how they used to be.”Marcelo will be coming upagainst his international team-mate Neymar, who he claimed ahead of thegame in an interview with Brazilian television would “one day play forReal Madrid”.“Madrid fans like good players, and Neymar is a worldstar. Any fan would like to have Neymar in their team,” he addedyesterday. Real, though, are wary of the threats elsewhere in a PSG sidealso featuring the likes of Edinson Cavani and Kylian Mbappe. “Ofcourse Neymar is a great player who is on top of his game, but we arenot only thinking about him.” Zidane inspired France to World Cup gloryas a player, but his extraordinary career has to a large degree beendefined by the Champions League.His magnificent volleyed goal forReal Madrid in their 2002 win over Bayer Leverkusen at Hampden Park inGlasgow is one of the greatest to be scored in a European Cup final.Assuch, it is up there with his brace in France’s 1998 win over Brazil,his country’s Euro 2000 triumph and the infamous headbutt on MarcoMaterazzi during the 2006 World Cup final among the most memorablemoments of his playing days. He has carried on his love affair with theChampions League as a coach, from his role as assistant to CarloAncelotti in Real’s 2014 triumph to leading Madrid to glory himself inthe last two seasons.But now Zidane’s future in charge at theSantiago Bernabeu is hanging by a thread, possibly tied to the outcomeof the looming showdown with this formidable Paris Saint-Germain outfit.For 18 months after his appointment in January 2016, the Frenchmancould do no wrong, but a little of the magic has deserted him recently.“Thisis an unprecedented situation, but we must live with it, hold ourcourse,” Zidane said in an interview with French radio station RTL airedon Monday. He has won eight trophies since replacing the unpopular RafaBenitez in the Madrid dugout, including an unprecedented five in onecalendar year in 2017. Zidane also oversaw the club’s first La Liga andEuropean Cup double since 1958 as well as a record 40-match unbeatenrun.But now they stand fourth in La Liga, at risk of finishing offthe podium in their domestic league for the first time since 2004.Finishing second behind Tottenham Hotspur in their Champions Leaguegroup also exposed them to this tougher draw. The man born and raised ina tough neighbourhood of Marseille needs the tonic of a win over theParisian aristocrats.“We also must not dismiss everything we havedone because of our form at the moment,” he told RTL, mindful thatrecent improved results in La Liga have not completely shaken away thedoubts. “This is not some other club — the slightest negative thing here and the media make a song and dance out of it.”Zidanelast month revealed that he had signed a new contract at the Bernabeuuntil 2020, and the respect with which he is held by those within theclub, the supporters and the media means there has been no campaigncalling for his head.President Florentino Perez cannot make Zidanethe scapegoat for the lowering of standards as he did with Benitezbefore. But, equally, Zidane is fully aware that coaches at the Bernabeudo not have long shelf-lives.Since Vicente del Bosque wasunceremoniously sacked in 2003, Real have appointed a new coach 13times. The longest-serving in that time has been Jose Mourinho, whosurvived for three seasons. When asked last month if he felt able toturn things around, he replied: “If I thought I could not, I would leavetomorrow.”But to RTL he added: “I like what I do. Not everyone can do this. I am making the most of it, I know it won’t last forever.”Meanwhile PSG have omitted veteran midfielder Thiago Motta from their squad for the trip to Madrid yesterday.