Football
Dermot Corrigan, Madrid correspondent 7y

Zinedine Zidane after Real Madrid win: We still have most difficult yet to do

Real Madrid coach Zindine Zidane said that every moment could now be crucial in the La Liga title race, after his side remained in control of their own destiny by beating Sevilla 4-1 at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday evening.

Madrid went 2-0 up early through Nacho Fernandez's quick free kick and Cristiano Ronaldo's close range effort, but Sevilla pulled a deserved goal back just after half-time through Stefan Jovetic's 20-yard curler.

With Barcelona easing to a 4-1 win in a simultaneously played game at Las Palmas, the nerves were building around the Bernabeu before Ronaldo speared in a superb second of the evening, and there were smiles all around when Toni Kroos rounded off the scoring late on.

The result means Zidane's side know four points between their game in hand at Celta Vigo on Wednesday and trip to Malaga next Sunday will clinch a first title in five years, regardless of what Barca do at home against Eibar in their final game.

"The good thing is that we are into the final phase very good physically and with everyone very motivated," the Los Blancos coach told the postmatch news conference. "We know it is all on the line in every game, every minute, every play. This is very long, to win La Liga. In Spain we know it is nothing easy to win this league. We still have the most difficult yet to do -- two games to play. We do not know what will happen, but we know we will give everything until the end."

Zidane said his team had deserved the three points over the 90 minutes against a Sevilla team who had caused them problems, citing a double substitution he made early in the second half when holding midfielder Casemiro entered as a key moment.

"Today was a deserved win, we began the game very well, scoring two goals," he said. "Then we had 15 minutes when they had chances, we suffered a bit. Keylor [Navas] was very good, I will not say he saved the team, but he stopped Sevilla scoring. With a change in the second half we got more balance in the centre of the pitch, and played a good second half."

Casemiro had replaced Colombian playmaker James Rodriguez, who took his time leaving the pitch, leading to a question over whether this had been a goodbye to the Bernabeu from a player linked with a big money summer move to Manchester United.

"James is here [now] and we have a long way to go yet," Zidane said. "We are thinking about this end of the season, with three games left, two in La Liga, one in the Champions League. I do not want to talk about anything else."

The game's first goal had drawn complaints from Sevilla at the time, but the Frenchman praised the quick thinking from back-up defender Nacho who spotted the opportunity and converted like a forward.

"He got over quickly to the free kick and I am delighted with what he did," Zidane said. "It is normally something you see from a striker or midfielder, so I am very happy for him."

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