Zidane: Real Madrid Are Not Favourites For The UCL

Zinedine Zidane does not believe Real Madrid are favourites for the champions league, as they look to defend their trophy.

Los Blancos beat domestic rivals Atletico Milan on penalties to win their 11th UCL trophy.

They return to continental competition against Sporting Lisbon. And Zidane does not think they qualify as favourites.

“I wouldn’t say we are favourites,” the French World Cup-winner told a pre-match news conference. “There are a lot of teams who can win it. You have to compete, you have to play. We are ready and we have a tough game against a good footballing side who will turn up looking to put in a good perfoemance.

“Being in the Champions League comes with the job. The players know the objective out on the pitch is to always win.

“If we’re taking part in a game it is to win. It’s to advance, to go further, to improve.

“We know it’s not meant to be easy. In fact, it will be harder than last season because whenever you go to play at a stadium against any team you are the defending champions. I think every single game will be tough, starting with Wednesday night’s fixture.”

No team has retained the Champions League since the tournament rebranded and switched to a group-stage format and Zidane feels a weight of expectation has played a part in this peculiarity.

“After you’ve won a title, people expect more from you,” he said. “They expect you to win again.

“Every game is harder because demarnds are greater and we expect a very complicated game [against Sporting].

“The secret to success is to work hard every day, be ready.”

Zidane added: “I know I’ve got a great team, a great squad, great players and if we all work a bit more each day I’m sure we’ll have a greater chance of accomplishing all our objectives.”

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