Real Madrid vs Malaga - Real Madrid head coach Zinedine Zidane is keen to stop the rot

Posted Friday, January 20, 2017 by PA

Real Madrid's 40-game unbeaten run has been brought to a shuddering halt with back-to-back losses and head coach Zinedine Zidane is determined to stop the rot against Malaga.

After eight months without experiencing the sharp end of defeat in any competition, Real went down 2-1 at Sevilla in LaLiga before losing by the same scoreline at home to Sevilla in the Copa del Rey.

Mid-table Malaga represent some relatively easy prey as Zidane's table-toppers bid to pull clear of second-placed Sevilla with a victory at the Bernabeu on Saturday afternoon.

The Frenchman told realmadrid.com: "This is football. You cannot win every game or play well always. Sometimes there are bad times you need to overcome and move on from.

"In my mind I can only see hard work ahead of us - I'm thinking things could be done better. What we have to do is concentrate more, but I'm not worried.

"We have to give 100 per cent. Let's leave this situation behind us with a convincing display.

"There is always going to be pressure but all it does is make me grow stronger every day.

"I'm not afraid of pressure."

Gareth Bale, Pepe and Dani Carvahal remain sidelined through injury, with the out-of-favour Colombia international James Rodriguez still struggling to shake off a calf problem.

Malaga midfielder Pablo Fornals hopes to hinder Real in much the same way as his team-mates frustrated Barcelona in a goalless draw at the Nou Camp back in November.

Los Boquerones are in dire need of a positive result having lost five of their last seven games in all competitions, and buoyed by memories of a stalemate in the capital last season, Pablo is optimistic.

He told malagacf.com: "Victory in Madrid? Why not?

"What better place to prove that we are capable of beating or at least making things difficult for any opponent, just like we did against Barca.

"They were having a bad day, whereas we were very organised and hard-working, so things went well for us.

"You can see on the pitch that we're trying to work better together, with a more aggressive level of pressure.

"Little by little we hope that our hard work will be reflected on the pitch, because that hasn't been the case in recent games."

Watford loanee Adalberto Penaranda will hope to start at the Bernabeu after making his Malaga debut off the bench against Real Sociedad, while veteran centre-back Martin Demichelis has rejoined the club on a short-term deal and will hope to help shore up a leaky defence.