Zidane says Real not good enough in attack against Betis but title race not over

Madrid could fall five points behind their Atletico with five games to go should their rivals win at Athletic Bilbao

MADRID:

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane conceded his side were missing a cutting edge in attack after they drew 0-0 at home to Real Betis on Saturday to further dent their La Liga title hopes.

Just as in last week’s 0-0 draw at Getafe, Real looked toothless in attack and barely threatened their opponents, coming closest to scoring when Brazilian forward Rodrygo aimed a cross for the box but ended up striking the bar.

“We were missing a lot of things in attack today,” Zidane told reporters.

“We gave the ball away a lot and we’re not very sharp up front. We were good in defence but we’ve dropped two points.”

Real moved one point behind leaders Atletico two weeks ago after beating Barcelona 2-1 but they could fall five points behind their city rivals with five games to go should their city rivals win at Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.

Zidane, however, would not dwell on whether his side had lost momentum in what is set to be a thrilling four-way title race, with Barcelona and Sevilla also in with a chance of catching Atletico.

“There’s five games left which is still a long way to go and we’re going to keep on fighting. La Liga did not end for us tonight, the other teams still have to play,” he added.

Real host Chelsea in a Champions League semi-final first leg on Tuesday and were handed a boost ahead of the tie with the return of Eden Hazard, who looked sharp and over his long-running injury woes when he came on as a late substitute.

“We’re very happy to see Eden again, he’s a player who is going to offer us a lot. He looked in very good shape,” said Zidane, adding that he hoped left back Ferland Mendy and midfielder Toni Kroos would also return in time to face Chelsea.