Zinedine Zidane appeared in the press room at Real Madrid City following his side's final training session before their last-sixteen Copa del Rey meeting with Zaragoza (Wednesday, 9:00pm CET). The coach reflected “It's a very difficult game. The opposition look in great shape in the Segunda División and are fighting for promotion. We know the players they have and we have to go into the game with the utmost focus and intensity because we know tomorrow's game is our most important right now. We have to give a good account of ourselves, because that's how we'll get our rewards on the pitch".



"When I putt on a Real Madrid jersey, I want to do a top job in every game. This is a Copa del Rey clash, it's our next job and we want to give it our best. We prepare to be in great shape and do a good job on the pitch when the games come around".



New Copa format

"They asked me the same thing the other day and as I said, I'm used to it because it's always been over a single game in France. I like the idea. It's slicker, you know it's a case of one game, and that's it. We adapt to whatever we're given. I don't think there's a lack of motivation for the Cup. Three Copa del Rey titles in 30 years is one thing, but Real Madrid has an amazing history with all it's achieved to date and motivation is high for us because there's a trophy at stake. We have to acknowledge that Madrid have 13 Champions Leagues, that's an impressive figure. The Copa number is a bit weaker and we want to change that history. We'll do our best".



Zaragoza

“They're a historic club who will surely make life hard for us. They want to be in the next round. They've got an experienced coach, with more Primera División games under his belt than anyone else and I'm sure they're ready to put in a great performance. We won't be surprised about the difficulties we're set to experience in Zaragoza tomorrow, that will be the case until the end. Kagawa is a key man for Zaragoza, he's a lovely footballer and I wish him the best, but only after the game. I'm only interested in what we do”.



Casemiro

“He's part of the squad just like the rest and we know how important he is. I love getting the best out of this squad in general, but I don't hide the fact Casemiro is a crucial player who's had a lot of minutes. Some players get more game time than others, that's not going to change”.



Hazard

“I'd rather have all my players available. The players want to be available to play as well. Hazard is back out on the pitch with the coaches but he hasn't re-joined the group yet. We'll see how we manage him this week. Elsewhere, we're happy from a defensive perspective because we know that before you attack, you have to defend well, show intensity on defensive phases, and we're doing a great job.

But we also know that every game is different and we have to show we can adapt. We will try and put on a good display tomorrow”.

