Zinedine Zidane Believes Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid Can Beat Barcelona & Plays Down Talk Of Son Enzo's Future

French legend Zinedine Zidane says Jose Mourinho can lead Real Madrid to glory while playing down talk on son's international future.

By Paul Madden

Zinedine Zidane (Goal.com)
Former Real Madrid and France legend Zinedine Zidane has declared that new Merengues coach Jose Mourinho has brought the missing piece to the Bernabeu's puzzle and noted that he expects the club to do something big this season.

He insisted that Madrid have what it takes now to trump Barcelona but noted that they must make use of their youth system, in a similar way to what their Catalan rivals have done.

"I didn't see the Mallorca game, I was out, but Madrid is still preparing. Mourinho brings what was missing to this team. Barca are going well, but this year Madrid can do something important," he remarked, according to AS.

"The way Barcelona play now it's hard to be at their level, but Madrid have the players and coach to beat them. Now, they must also think of the youth system. Barca has done very well with theirs lately and have brought in four or five players."

Zidane also played down talk of where his son's international football future lies. Enzo Zidane at 15-years-old is impressing playing youth football for Madrid and has already attracted frenzied interest and expectation but his father just wants him to enjoy playing the game.

"I do not like talking about it, but when one of the national teams calls him, we will decide which one to play for. If Spain is calling, fine. And if France, the same. The important thing now is that he enjoys playing for Real Madrid," he added.

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Hosted by Stephen Crawford & Adam Scime
2/15/12
And with that, we're going to call it a night, folks.

We've had two tremendous matches today, so lets hope the intensity keeps up in the next clashes!

Until next time, this is LIVE commentator Stephen Crawford signing off.

From everyone here at Goal.com, thanks for joining us!

2/15/12
All this focus on the Arsenal and Milan game should not take away from another cracker earlier tonight between Zenit and Benfica. The Russians came from a goal down to lead 2-1 in the closing minutes before Oscar Cardozo levelled things for Benfica, but it wasn't over there as Roman Shirokov won the game for Zenit in the 88th minute.

Here's the thoughts of Benfica coach Jorge Jesus, who felt his side deserved a point from the game.
2/15/12
Arsenal keeper Wojciech Szczesny bemoaned his side's luck tonight but refused to give up. Here's some of his quotes:

"They were the better team on the night and that's the story of the day.

"We have to keep fighting, pick ourselves up, get the confidence back and challenge in the other competitions and in the second leg of this tie too.

"They punished us on every occasion; they scored some quality goals and they deserved to win."

Full story HERE


2/15/12
Another Milan player who was willing to share his thoughts after the match was Mark van Bommel, who has urged caution ahead of the second leg in London.

“The score made it look like it was an easy game, but it certainly wasn't.

(Strange... it looked pretty easy from where I was sitting, but hey.)

“I do not think it's over yet. I remember a clash between Milan and Deportivo la Coruna when Milan was also ahead by four goals, and in the end Deportivo eliminated Milan.

“I went into the Arsenal dressing room after the match to speak to Robin van Persie. I had agreed with him to swap shirts – my sons are big fans of his and he brought two for them. They will be delighted.


Van Bommel went on to talk about a possible move to PSV in the future, but was quick to point out his terms for the move.

“I've spoken with PSV, but we don't have an agreement yet. The club has to decide what they want.

“If Louis van Gaal turns out to be the new coach, I won't go.”


2/15/12
Next up is the Milan maestro Clarence Seedorf. He only managed 12 minutes on the pitch, but watching from the sidelines he was delighted at how his team mates had dominated the game.

"Tonight everything went in the right direction and we did a very good match. You don't start a match thinking to win 4-0, but at the end i think we deserved it coz we played very well."

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