Zinedine Zidane has reflected on Rafa Benítez's time in the Real hotseat, praising the "cracking" start the Spaniard has made.

Speaking from Marrakech, where he was attending the final of the Danone Nations Cup, Real Madrid B-team coach Zidane spoke of the massive respect he has for the work the former Napoli boss is doing with the 'Los Merengues' first team.

Speaking just prior to kick-off in the final of the under-12 international football tournament, for whom he has been the ambassador for the last decade, Zizou wished to avoid any talk surrounding his immediate future: "I'm living the dream right now with Castilla. We're doing really well, and I can't ask for anything more than that at the moment. We'll see what the future holds, but the most important thing right now is the day-to-day management of Castilla".

The former midfielder took the opportunity to pile praise on his players who have performed excellently in this, his second season at the helm: "I'm very proud of my players. I very rarely get the chance to speak about them, and so today is my chance to congratulate them for all of their work, we must remember that they are only young and that they work very hard".

Zidane's side have registered nearly as impressive a start to the campaign as their senior counterparts, and this weekend's victory over Socuéllamos saw the capital club's second string maintain their position in the top four. If they are still there by the end of the season, this would see the first-team understudies contest the play-offs for promotion to the Spanish second tier.