Saturday 23 September 2017 20:42, UK
Zinedine Zidane has called for patience as Real Madrid battle to climb out of an early-season slump.
Real bounced back from their shock 1-0 home defeat to Real Betis by edging home 2-1 at Alaves, with Dani Ceballos firing a brace on his La Liga debut for the club.
Madrid still struggled however, coming under intense pressure as Alfonso Pedraza hit a post twice in the second half, to add to Manu Garcia's bullet header.
Despite his side's patchy form of just three wins in six league matches this term, Zidane still insists Real are on the rise.
"There has to be patience. It's not a brilliant time for us, but we have to accept it," said Zidane.
"I'm certain that we'll have a better performance next time. We know that it's difficult wherever we go, Alaves needed the points. They had a good game.
"I'm satisfied and so can everyone be because we got what we wanted, the three points.
"I won't single anything out in particular, but we got the three points and we'll have much better days, especially in terms of our performance, but you have to congratulate the players.
"Playing every three days ultimately requires a big effort, so we can be happy.
"Two goals aren't many for all the chances we had, but the important thing was to win."
Cristiano Ronaldo drew a blank in front of goal, hitting a post with a curling effort, but Zidane insists the Portugal talisman remains calm despite recent frustrations.
"When he doesn't score, you ask about him, but he's calm," said Zidane.
"He wants to score and had chances to do so. Ultimately, like always, he'll make the difference.
"He likes his position and we can play in different formations. He was our only striker against Alaves, but we can change things on Tuesday."
