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Zinedine Zidane cautious over La Liga title despite El Clasico victory

Zidane

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane remained cautious on his side's title chances despite their 2-1 comeback victory over La Liga leaders Barcelona on Saturday evening.

Gerard Pique gave the hosts the lead at the Nou Camp with a towering header from Ivan Rakitic's corner on 56 minutes, but Real swiftly levelled through Karim Benzema's acrobatic volley

Gareth Bale then had a goal controversially ruled out, before Sergio Ramos was sent off for a second yellow card with seven minutes remaining.

But Ronaldo had the last word, stepping up with an 85th-minute winner for Zidane's side.

Cristiano Ronaldo scores the winning goal in Barcelona v Real Madrid
Image: Cristiano Ronaldo scores the winning goal in Barcelona v Real Madrid

And when asked about his side's title chances, the Frenchman said: "We have to overtake Atletico first.

"We're seven points behind and we need to focus on the next game, which is in the Champions League and after it we'll get back to thinking about picking up three points in La Liga.

"We just have to focus on winning our next game".

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Cristiano Ronaldo scored a late winner for Real Madrid at the Camp Nou

Zidane had tasted plenty of El Clasico victories during his career as a player at the Bernabeu but last night was his first as a coach against Barcelona, and he could not hide his delight at picking up three points at the Nou Camp.

"I'm very happy with everything about the game, especially the result," said the former Real star.

"We struggled at first but that's normal because it's a difficult ground to play at. I'm very proud of my players and how they played.

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Karim Benzema brought the scoreline to 1-1 with this bicycle kick in El Clasico

"When I see a team that's united and all together, with everyone fighting for their team-mates and for their coach, there's nothing better.

"Coming into the game, we knew that we would have to work hard and be well prepared for it. We put in a good performance, we've got the three points. Winning here is a huge prize for all our players because they put in an enormous performance," he added.

"It's not easy to win here, few teams win here but now need to rest and start thinking about the Wolfsburg game because it's very important for us as we look to continue what we've started".

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