Real Madrid Coach Zinedine Zidane admits it’s “special” to face Juventus, and expects “a complicated and difficult match”.
The Frenchman played for the Bianconeri before leaving for Madrid, and he’ll be back in Turin tomorrow night for the first leg of the Champions League Quarter-Final.
“It’s a special challenge because Real Madrid and Juventus are two teams that gave me a lot,” Zidane told UEFA.com.
Real Madrid Coach Zinedine Zidane admits it’s “special” to face Juventus, and expects “a complicated and difficult match”.
The Frenchman played for the Bianconeri before leaving for Madrid, and he’ll be back in Turin tomorrow night for the first leg of the Champions League Quarter-Final.
“It’s a special challenge because Real Madrid and Juventus are two teams that gave me a lot,” Zidane told UEFA.com.
“Once the game starts though I won’t be thinking about that anymore, we’ll just try to do what we have to.
“We know that against Juventus it will be a complicated and difficult match, because they’ve improved again this year.
“People can say what they want, but we can’t take anything for granted, you always have to prove yourself.
“We’ll have to play well if we want to qualify, but knockout games can go either way.
“This team has had extraordinary results, so now we’ll try to keep up that tradition. We have a chance to win it again and defend our title.
“What did I say at half-time in Cardiff? It was a little bit of everything. It wasn't just my talk at half-time that influenced it. There was the desire of the players to win.
“When we went out in the second half, we were more decisive. We played more in the opposition midfield and things turned out well for us.
“Everything will be different this time though. We can be back-to-back champions but that doesn't mean anything.”
Zizou was also asked about the similarities between Juventus and Real Madrid.
“I came [to Juventus] from France where if you drew or lost away from home it didn’t matter too much.
“That could never happen at Juventus, you have to win every game. The same is true for Real Madrid.
“In terms of their winning mentality, they’re two very similar clubs.”