Real Madrid coach
Zinedine Zidane believes Barcelona could suffer in the absence of
Lionel Messi, while he is relaxed over the form and fitness of his
own all-star forward line.
Messi suffered a
groin injury during Wednesday's 1-1 draw against Atletico Madrid - a
result that kept Barca three points behind Zidane's men at the top of
LaLiga.
The Argentina star,
who aggravated a similar problem while on international duty earlier
this month, is set to be sidelined for three weeks.
Despite Barca's
array of attacking talent elsewhere, Zidane expects Luis Enrique's
defending champion to find the going tougher without its talisman.
"They are
weakened, definitely," he told a pre-match news conference ahead
of Madrid's trip to Las Palmas on Saturday. "Not too much, but
Messi is Messi with what he brings to their side.
"Their side is
definitely different when he is not there."
Zidane was able to
field Karim Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale together from
the start for the first time in LaLiga this season as Villarreal
earned a share of the spoils at the Santiago Bernabeu in midweek.
The trio's varying
levels of form and fitness were in evidence, with Madrid particularly
limp as an attacking force before half-time, but their coach is not
overly concerned.
"They are in
good shape," Zidane said. "They could be better, perhaps
yes. They can all score goals and can all score two or three goals
but I'm happy with the way they are working. "But the team came
together as a whole. It was a team problem in the first half."
On Ronaldo, Zidane
added: "At 31 years of age he's still getting better. I don't
like to talk too much about Cristiano or I would be here for half an
hour or more.
"But I just
want to talk about his motivation — he is completely motivated. Not
all players are as motivated as him. It is a great virtue.
"They're in
shape, they are getting stronger every day. It's true we demand a lot
from them but they know the situation, they understand it and I'm
very happy with them."
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