‘BBC’ spearhead Zidane’s first Madrid line-up

Zinedine Zidane’s debut as Real Madrid’s head coach was a rousing success, with Gareth Bale notching a hat-trick and Karim Benzema scoring twice in a 5-0 victory here Saturday over Deportivo La Coruña.

Newly-appointed Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane has warned that star striker Cristiano Ronaldo will not leave the club during his tenure. “There are certain things we need to improve, but we have time to do that”.

But hopes of excitement were high when it was confirmed Zidane would back up the potent attacking triumvirate of Bale, Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo with a forward thinking midfield for his first fixture in charge.

“For Deportivo the fact it is the Bernabeu, that Zidane is the coach, means there will be more cameras, but I think we have shown in the Camp Nou, at Valencia and other hard places that we will play with the same mentality to win games wherever they are”. We have tremendous quality, I can’t single out just one player.

Zidane won the 2002 Champions League and 2002-03 La Liga title during his time as a player at Real Madrid, but he did not win any silverware with the club in the three seasons prior to his retirement after the departure of his France teammate Claude Makelele. “I’ve very happy because the team want to change things, they want to play”, he added.

The B team now lie second in the table but have just one win since mid-November. “And I’m happy too”.

Perez, who was looking for his 13th league goal of the season, had the first outstanding chance of the match in the 11th minute, but the Spaniard could not find a route past Navas from inside the Real Madrid box.

Zidane himself was a big crowd pleaser as a player at the Bernabeu, and now as coach he intends to give the fans something to cheer on the pitch as well. “It makes me laugh because while I’m here he’s going nowhere”, said Zidane. “I want to enjoy this win”.

Real have 40 points in third spot, four ahead of fourth-placed Villarreal (36) who host Sporting Gijon on Sunday.

“[James Rodriguez and Isco] are important and very good players, and I’ve given them my affection and faith”.

Real Madrid was inconsistent under Benitez, who struggled to get the team back on track following the defeat to Barcelona and the embarrassing elimination from the Copa del Rey for using an illegible player.

Zidane, who took over from Benitez last Monday, said that he would not be making transfer requests during the transfer window.