Zinedine Zidane Hails 'F-----g Great' Real Madrid Stars Following 2-0 Derby Victory

Zinedine Zidane was over the moon with his Real Madrid stars on Saturday evening after los Blancos defeated rivals Atletico Madrid 2-0 in the Madrid derby, ending the visitors' 26 game unbeaten run.

A Casemiro header and a Jan Oblak own goal proved the difference at Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano, as los Blancos delivered a perfect performance which nullified the rampant Rojiblancos.

Madrid coach Zidane could barely contain his delight when asked about the performances of Toni Kroos, Luka Modric and Karim Benzema, losing control of his consonants and vowels and letting slip a sweary sentence of praise for his victorious heroes.

“They are f-----g great. Everyone. You speak of Kroos, Modric, Karim, but Lucas Vázquez, Carvajal, our captain...everyone.”

Zidane was rightly ecstatic with his team's performance, given they were able to close the gap on Diego Simeone's Atleti to only three points, and the points were all he wanted to focus on after the match, when questioned over exactly what he'd learned from the derby.

“Everything because there are three points, it is very important to continue in this league. But the whole party in full. We played a very complete game again and in such a way, against a team that we know are very good, they had gone 26 games without losing...I'm happy."

The Frenchman has come in for criticism in some parts due to his heavy rotation policy, which has seen his team look disjointed and labour to a few poor results.

This recent upturn in fortunes, which has delivered an improvement domestically and progress in the Champions League, has coincided with the coach landing upon a set spine for his side and reducing the number of changes made during the game.

"I will continue to think the same, believe in my players," he responded.

"There is a specific moment where we did not make many changes, but nothing changes. I will count on everyone. It is true that there are players who play less, that is unfortunately the case, but I will have everyone because everyone wins. And the players know it too."

When the potential effects of these criticisms on the players and coach were put to Zidane, he was candid in his response, admitting 'there are things that hurt, but they also make you stronger.'

“I don't know. The important thing is to believe in what we do and we always do. The players know that there are difficult moments in a season but they believe in what they do, together they know that we can do good things. 

"Today we showed it. Madrid knows how to play. And I'm happy because there are things that hurt, but they also make you stronger. Criticism is part of football, but the players have the character to carry this forward."