Zidane: Marcelo is Marcelo and I like how he plays Real Madrid Standing by the Brazilian

Despite his poor performances this season, Zinedine Zidane has leapt to the defence of Marcelo.

The Brazilian came in for more criticism after Real Madrid's 2-1 loss at Valencia on Wednesday evening, but the coach wasn't having it.

"Marcelo is Marcelo," Zidane said afterwards.

"I like how he plays and I see him [as being] in good shape.

"He trains well and the season is complicated for everyone, not only Marcelo."

Madrid were lacking a goalscoring threat and only found the back of the net in the 93rd minute through Karim Benzema, but by that point it was too late as they were already 2-0 down.

"We played well but couldn't get the first goal," Zidane added.

"We didn't get anything in the first half, but they tried.

"I can't blame my players for anything. It's a loss and we have to accept it."

Despite their lack of scoring, Madrid had a lot of the ball but just couldn't break Valencia down.

"We had to do more in the last few metres," he said.

"It's complicated, though, and you have to accept it. We'll have to do better on Saturday."