Former Real Madrid defender: Zidane already a great coach

Facing an uphill task following last week’s forgettable 3-0 defeat away from home, Atletico fought back to win Wednesday’s return leg 2-1 at the Vicente Calderon. “We know the path is long and hard and that they deserve to be there and I think we do too”.

Atletico got the goal they needed to get back into the tie 12 minutes in when Koke’s outswinging corner was met powerfully by Saul for his fourth Champions League goal of the season.

Keylor Navas made a double save on 65 minutes to deny Yannick Carrasco’s low shot and Antoine Griezmann’s header from the rebound.

The French forward went 2 opponent defenders with the help of some brilliant footwork and assisted to Isco.

While the chances of Atletico thrashing their illustrious neighbours appeared slim, there was a recent precedent to which Simeone and his players looked for inspiration.

However, a goal from Isco shortly before half-time effectively killed the contest and Madrid saw out the second half in more comfortable fashion to progress to the final with a 4-2 aggregate win. The first 20 or 30 minutes will stay in the minds of everyone.

“It is clear that we still need to keep growing. Now we have to take another step, on another stage”.

However, Zidane is looking no further ahead than Sunday’s meeting with Sevilla as Real aim to topple Barca in the standings. “It’s going to be an fantastic game, they are very strong and they totally deserved to go to Cardiff like we did”. “It’s clear that the hearts of some of these players we have are so big that they transmit passion to their teammates and push them in the moments of difficulty and in the complex situations of a match”.

The game ended in the middle of a tremendous thunderstorm and despite their side’s exit, the home fans cheered their players off the pitch.

“The squad should get the credit because it is they who are playing, running, fighting on the field”.

Real have won only one of their last eight league games against Atletico but have found the magic formula against their rivals in the Champions League, which winger Lucas Vazquez said was due to their history in the competition.

“We have three cup finals in LaLiga and we’re starting with the first, tomorrow”, the Frenchman told realmadrid.com.

“We can’t be thinking about Madrid, we can only think about ourselves”, the Brazilian said in an interview with BeIN Sports.