Zidane apologizes to Ceballos

CAIRO – 23 February 2018: Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane felt "sorry" for giving his midfielder Dani Ceballos the chance to play for only 29 seconds before the final whistle in the game against Leganes last Wednesday and acknowledges that he has apologized.

"I knew it was fatal, I am very sorry and I told him so. I do not like what happened,” he said.

Real Madrid defeated Leganes 3-1 in the postponed game from the first stage to return to third place in the league and reduce the gap with Barcelona to 14 points.

The substitution was prepared when the score was 1-2, and then the penalty came to Kovacic, which was scored by Ramos. Everything was delayed and Zidane decided to give Ceballos the chance instead of sending him back to the bench, with the game already resolved. Ceballos did not touch the ball and looked dejected while leaving the pitch after the game, and he didn’t join the rest of the team greeting the fans.

"I'm very sorry," Zidane reiterated, adding that Ceballos must have patience.

"I am delighted with him. He is charming, he works; he knows that he has not had many minutes, but he is still working. He's young and he has to stay here. I remember the first game against Alavés, who scored two goals. He has to keep fighting and thinking he's going to have minutes," he stated.