Zidane takes blame for Real’s Copa del Rey exit, calls it his ‘worst night’

Real Madrid boss, Zinedine Zidane has taken responsibility of his side’s failure to advance to the semifinals of the Copa del Rey after they lost 1-2 at home to Leganes on Wednesday night.

Trailing 1-0 from the first leg, the Leganes conquered their hosts to stay 2-2 on aggregate, and won the tie on the strength of away goals from Eraso and Gabriel, as Karim Benzema’s goal wasn’t enough for Real.

Speaking after the game, Zidane confessed that the loss, which followed a 7-1 victory over Deportivo in the La Liga, was his “worst night,” adding that it was his failure as the coach and not the players.

“It’s a failure and I take responsibility for it. I’m very disappointed, it’s a very tough blow to take,” the Frenchman said.

“I always take responsibility for what I do, and this is my worst night.

“Winning 1-0 there and starting the way we did… I don’t understand what happened. Now we have to see how we’re going to come back from it.

“I was wrong on many things, but you have to think about getting up. It’s a very hard pill to swallow.

“Angry with my players? No, I’m angry with myself. My players tried, ran and were poor at times, but it’s my fault,” he added.

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Leganes are the first team in Copa del Rey history to knock out Real Madrid at the Bernabeu after losing at home in the first leg.

And Real, 19-time Copa del Rey winners, have lost four La Liga games this season and trail leaders Barcelona by 19 points.

“I don’t know if this is the worst season in Madrid’s history, but that doesn’t bother me. I have to be positive, even after tonight,” continued Zidane.

“We have to apologise to the fans, accept the situation and pick ourselves up because 2018 hasn’t ended, we have a League match on Saturday and the Champions League starts on February 14.

Meanwhile, Real’s last realistic hope of silverware this season rests with the Champions League, and they face a tough tie with Ligue 1 giants Paris St-Germain on February 14.

To this, the Real boss responded: “Of course we’ll be playing for everything against PSG. The objectives are no longer those we set at the start of the season.

“Right now, we can only fulfil our remaining matches, and that means preparing for the game on February 14.”

 

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