Zidane appeals for calm amid Madrid's travails

MADRID - In the space of just five games Real Madrid has gone from red-hot La Liga title favorite to trailing rival Barcelona by seven points ahead of Saturday's trip to Alaves.

When Madrid swept a supposedly crisis-ridden Barca aside 5-1 in the Spanish Super Cup last month, Zinedine Zidane's men were expected to romp to the title.

Instead, disappointing home draws against Valencia and Levante were compounded on Wednesday as Madrid failed to score for the first time in 74 games when Real Betis became the first team other than Barca and Atletico Madrid to earn a league win at Santiago Bernabeu for six-and-a-half years.

"We have dropped seven points in a small number of games, but there is a long way to go and we can't throw everything we have done until now in the bin because of two or three average games," said Zidane.

"I know that many people don't like this work when things go wrong, but we have to accept it and be calm.

"The league is very long and we will stay calm within the group because we will lift ourselves and we know we will have better days."

Going on the road this weekend may come as a relief to Madrid as it has shone on its travels this term in wins at Deportivo la Coruna and Real Sociedad, as well as beating Barca and Manchester United in the Spanish and UEFA Super Cups respectively.

"It seems like if we don't score early at the Bernabeu we start to get anxious," said midfielder Isco.

"It is something we have to improve and it is better that it happens now at the start of the season when there is more room for error."

And while Madrid has endured a rough start to its title defense, Alaves has had a nightmare start to the campaign, losing all five matches so far and sacking coach Luis Zubeldia.

"We need to turn the page and think about the next game," said Madrid captain Sergio Ramos.

"We have come back from many points behind to win the league before. We need to stay calm because there are many games and points still to play for."

There won't be a Zidane family reunion at Mendizorroza as Enzo Zidane, Zinedine's eldest son, can't play for Alaves due to the terms of his loan move from Real.

Madrid can reduce the gap on Barca to four points before the leader travels to Girona for the first top-flight Catalan derby between the teams.

Barca's impressive start to the season on the field has been overshadowed this week as the club condemned the escalating political tension in the region in the build-up to an Oct 1 referendum on Catalan independence organized by pro-separatist politicians.

A powerful symbol of Catalonia across the world, Barca called for respect for "democracy, to freedom of speech, and to self-determination".

Fourteen regional government officials were detained on Wednesday as part of the crackdown by the Spanish government on plans for the referendum.

With Barca expected to rack up a seventh straight win in all competitions against newly promoted Girona, attention will be focused on expected demonstrations by both sets of fans at Montilivi.

The most enticing clash of the weekend comes at Wanda Metropolitano on Saturday lunchtime as Diego Simone's third-placed Atletico welcomes second-placed Sevilla to its new home.

Diego Costa is expected to be paraded to the home fans after the Spain international forward agreed to return to Atletico from Chelsea for a reported club-record fee of around $66 million. Costa left Atletico for the Blues after firing Los Rojiblancos to the 2013/14 Liga title.

Agence France-presse

(China Daily 09/23/2017 page11)