Zinedine Zidane has said he has no issue with the people who do not want his Real Madrid team to win their first La Liga title for five years, insisting it has always been and always will be that way. Madrid’s fate is in their own hands and they are guaranteed to win the domestic title on Sunday evening if they secure at least a point at Málaga.
Three points separate the league leaders and second-placed Barcelona at kick-off and, should Zidane’s side suffer a surprise fourth league defeat of the season, Luis Enrique’s men would win the title if they win at home to Eibar.
“There are a lot of people who don’t want Real Madrid to win La Liga but that’s always been the case and it always will be,” the Real Madrid manager, who spent five years at the club as a player, said. “It is no problem. We know where we are and that we have to win it ourselves out on the pitch and by working hard every day, fighting and never letting our heads drop. That’s how we’re going to continue.
“It’s in our hands and that’s significant. We’ve got one game left and we’re working exactly as we would want. We’re going into it in great physical shape and we’ll go out and give it everything we have got to win the game just as we always do.
“We are not going to change anything. The plan is to go out firing on all cylinders, give 100% and play to win it, as ever. That’s in this club’s DNA and we’ll have to see what happens. The only thing in our minds is to go out to win the game.”
Gareth Bale and Dani Carvajal continue to step up their recoveries from respective calf and hamstring injuries and Zidane said he plans on taking his entire squad to Andalusia for the match. “We are all travelling tomorrow,” the Frenchman said.
If Madrid, who face Juventus in the Champions League final next month, do slip up, Barcelona are determined to take advantage as Luis Enrique bids farewell to Camp Nou in his final league game as the Barça manager. The Spaniard, who joined Barcelona from Real Madrid on a free transfer in 1996 during his playing career, announced he would be leaving his role as manager after three seasons at the club in March and insists Sunday’s match is “not a farewell” but rather a “see you soon”.
Luis Enrique is adamant his team will be prepared for every possibility and, regardless of the outcome, his last league game in charge will prove to be a special night in his career. “We expect to see them play a good game but our objective, of course, is to win the title,” Luis Enrique said. “If we win the league, fantastic and we’ll celebrate it. Otherwise we will congratulate the champion.
“It is going to be a very special night, that is normal. I was very fortunate to come here to Barcelona as the manager, I knew it was going to be short time here regardless of whether it was one, two or 25 years. It seems short because the time flies by so quickly.
“For me it has been like a short journey but Barcelona’s history is full of players and managers that come and go and I am very proud to form part of this history.”
