Real Madrid-Deportivo La Coruña

Zinedine Zidane spoke to the press ahead of the visit of Depor this weekend, Real Madrid’s final league match of the season before the squad departs for Japan to contest the Club World Cup.

Full screen GERARD JULIEN (AFP)

Deportivo: “It’s a tricky game, not only because of how they played in their last match but also because their position in the table doesn't reflect what they are doing. We know it will be a difficult game. It’s our last [league] game of the year and we’ll try to be ready for it.”

Benzema to be rested

Benzema: “He’s available but we’re going to give him a rest because we have a lot of games. He won’t play tomorrow, the same as others.”

Unbeaten record: “A lot of coaches have achieved a lot of things here. The important thing for us is to continue with the work we have been doing. I only base my evaluations on that. I am interested in everything the players do, and the enthusiasm they have. The atmosphere here is terrific and we have to keep it up. I know this kind of atmosphere and it can change very quickly so we have to take care of it.”

Liga lead: “Six points isn’t enough. It’s not that I don’t care about the results of other teams, but what I care most about is what we do. What other teams do isn’t going to change anything. We have an important game tomorrow with three points at stake and we want to win. Depor will be coming here to play well.”

Tax probe

Tax investigations: “Yes, it affects us. I don’t want to talk about things that are not appropriate and I hope it all gets sorted out quickly. I think he’s been tried in the media, so we’ll wait and see.”

Ronaldo: “Beyond being footballers they are intelligent people. They know what they are doing. They’re professionals. People speculate, they say things… I just hope that it all gets cleared up as quickly as possible so that we can go back to concentrating on football land winning games.”

James going nowhere

James: “James isn’t going to leave in January, for certain. I don’t want him to leave. Will he start against Depor? You’ll see tomorrow…”

Morata: “He will start tomorrow, he’s eager to play and he’s been training well.”

Good debut year: “Yes, we’ve worked very hard to achieve all of this and it’s been great. What we want to do is to carry on along the same lines even if there are tough moments in the future. If we carry on working we’ll carry on dreaming. I’m not literally dreaming at the moment, but hopefully we’ll stay on this track.”