Zinedine Zidane spoke to the press gathered inside the media room at Real Madrid City to preview the meeting with Valencia at Mestalla and he had the following to say: "It's another challenge. They're playing really well and are picking up some good results. They've just qualified for the next round of the Champions League and we want to play to our best because tomorrow's game is the one we're focused on. We want to play to our best, put in a good performance and try to keep progressing as a team".



"I'm not going to give anything away because when you're at Real Madrid, the opposition study what you do, the things we work on in training, what we stay and even my posture can be analysed, if I scratch my nose or my head. So I don't want to reveal anything about what I'm going to do tomorrow with my team so as to not give the opposition any clues. I don't discuss squad lists and that's perfectly normal for me. My answers are always the same. It's a strategy of mine. I don't know whether now is a good time to be facing Valencia; they're a side that are doing very well and have progressed to the Champions League last 16. We know who we're up against tomorrow and are ready for the challenge".



Casemiro to start?

"The coach is always the one who has the final say. I talk to my players out on the training pitch every day because I'm interested to hear how each of them is feeling. As for Casemiro, we know just how important each of the players are and I have to name my team for each game. We've got to think purely about this game because I'd be making a mistake if I started to think about Wednesday's match. The next game is always your most important one".



Squad rotation

"It'll be difficult not to rotate because we've got three big, important games in quick succession. As I always like to say, I've got 25 players and I can call on each and every one of them. There are two or three of them that are ruled out and I would have liked to have had them with us. I'm going to be counting on all of them in these three games".



Vinicius Jr. and Rodrygo

"Age doesn't matter in football. There are players aged 16 or 17 and then, for example, in France there's a player who's 42 and is still playing. Age doesn't matter in football. Everyone likes football".



Bale

"I don't think that [Gareth] Bale's role is a less important one. I'm making decisions and the other day I made three substitutions and he wasn't one of them, but Gareth is one of us and I'll be counting on him. I've got 25 players and they're all important to me. We could talk about this player or that player and whether they're more important, but for the coach they're all very important, not just in one game, but in our daily work. I'm with them every day and they're all committed; at the end of the day, that's the important thing for me. The players are available and I'm then the one who has to make a decision".