Real Madrid vs Atletico de Madrid - Zinedine Zidane: Defeat in final would not be a failure

Posted Saturday, May 28, 2016 by PA

Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane has dismissed suggestions losing the Champions League final to Atletico Madrid would be a failure.

Los Blancos go into Saturday's final in Milan against their city rivals in danger of finishing the season without any silverware.

They were runners-up in La Liga to Barcelona and were kicked out of the Copa del Rey for fielding the ineligible Denis Cheryshev in their 3-1 win over Cadiz in December.

But Zidane, who replaced Rafael Benitez as boss in January, insisted defeat in the final cannot be considered a failure after their work to reach San Siro.

He told a press conference: "I don't think it'll be a failure if we lose, no-one can take away what we have done up to now.

"Failure can come from a bad attitude and if we cannot replicate what we have done in the past that would be a failure, but it's a game of football.

"You don't know what could happen. All I can say is we are very ready for the game.

"We are just one game away. We are all very happy to be in this final and ready is the word. That's all. There is just one more night to go, sleep tonight and tomorrow play a great final.

"I have worked hard with all the players and we deserve to be there. Atletico can say the same. We both deserved to get here.

"I am happy with the work we have achieved and what we have done. We have suffered a lot but that's normal. Without suffering it's impossible to get to a final."

The head coach is without Raphael Varane, with the defender's thigh injury also ruling him out of France's Euro 2016 squad, while Alvaro Arbeloa is battling a knee problem.

But Zidane added Cristiano Ronaldo was fully fit after he was forced to leave a training session early on Tuesday.

Atletico Madrid striker Fernando Torres, meanwhile, has insisted he is ready for the game of his life.

"Without a doubt it's the most important, the most special match that I've played in my whole career," he told a press conference.

"Anything that I can achieve with the club that gave me the opportunity to play football, the club I was a fan of since I was five years old, will be different from any other final. I've been lucky enough to win many things with Chelsea, with the Spanish national team, but this is special, it's different.

"Madrid are a great club, they are one of the best in the world without a doubt. We live in the same city with them, and that makes us more eager to fight, very hopeful to get to change history, we have a chance to write a page in the history of Atletico that no one has written yet."

Atletico boss Diego Simeone, who has no injury worries, is looking to become just the third non-European coach to win the competition after fellow Argentinians Luis Carniglia (with Real Madrid in 1958 and 1959) and Helenio Herrera (with Inter Milan in 1964 and 1965).