Abu Dhabi: Al Jazira will face a Real Madrid side back on scoring form in Wednesday’s Fifa Club World Cup semi-final in Abu Dhabi, after the Spanish giants put five past Sevilla at home in La Liga on Saturday.
Cristiano Ronaldo, who last week won his record-equalling fifth Ballon d’Or, got two after Nacho’s opener, before Toni Kroos and Achraf Hakimi rounded the tally to five before the break.
🇦🇪👋 ¡Abu Dabi, ya estamos aquí!
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) December 10, 2017
🛬 @emirates#RMCWC | #HalaMadrid pic.twitter.com/QEzZ0VbL2q
“It was very important to win like that before travelling for our morale,” said Real coach Zinedine Zidane, whose side landed in Abu Dhabi late on Sunday.
“It is better to travel with this result. Now we can think about doing things well in the game on Wednesday and trying to win another trophy.
“Everyone thinks it will be easy,” he said of the semi-final against Al Jazira and a possible final against either Gremio or Pachuca. “But for me there are no easy games.”
This 5-0 hammering is Real’s biggest win margin in the league this season and hopefully ends an indifferent run of form where Los Blancos find themselves third in the league, five points behind leaders Barcelona, ahead of Barca’s trip to Villarreal late on Sunday.
📸🛫 ¡A bordo del A380 de @emirates!
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) December 10, 2017
👍 @raphaelvarane
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“I hope things have changed now, and we can keep going like this, scoring goals,” said Zidane, mindful that Real have a home game against Barcelona looming on December 23 the week after they return from Abu Dhabi.
“Two games, eight goals, we must keep going like this,” he said in reference to their earlier 3-2 win at home to Borussia Dortmund, where Ronaldo became the first person to score in every Uefa Champions League group game last Wednesday, before lifting the Ballon d’Or in Paris the following day.
“We are improving in all ways, also in how we are playing, which is most important for us.
“To score five goals today against Sevilla is not easy at all. I am happy for Cristiano’s goals, for the players who had not had many minutes until now and did very well. We are happy with how we played, the goals, the game in general.
“We have been playing well for four or five games now. That is the most important thing for me, as that way things arrive, like today for example.
“We know we must keep going with our work. This game does not mean anything. We must be just as motivated on Wednesday. If we take our chances like today we will have more chances to win the game.”
Zidane also revisited the issue of Gareth Bale and Raphael Varane’s fitness heading into the Club World Cup.
“We will see, they will travel with us. Then it is about the day-to-day there. They will train with us normally on Tuesday. Then we will see what we do with them. We will not force anything.”
— With inputs from agencies
