The best teams, in any sport, are characterised by how they bounce back after defeat. Real Madrid, after their loss to Barcelona in El Clasico, face Deportivo La Coruna on Wednesday, and they have to produce a positive away result, with the La Liga title race getting interesting in the business end of the competition.
After Real's loss, they are tied on points with Barcelona, but have one game in hand. This match against Deportivo is going to be extremely important. With Barcelona playing before two hours before Real Madrid face Deportivo, ZInedine Zidane will be aware of the points difference before their match starts.
Real Madrid cannot think of what will happen in other matches. Real knows the winning formula for La Liga 2016-17 title – win all their remaining matches, and the trophy is their's irrespective of how brilliant or magical Barcelona can be in the final lap of the season.
Manager Zidane is aware of it, and just wants his team to concentrate on the game against Deportivo .
"We are in good shape and we're only thinking about the game. We are focused on what we have to do. We'll do our best to try to get the three points. In football you can't speculate. We have our destiny in our hands, we're not relying on no one and we'll try to do our best to win tomorrow," Real Madrid's official website quoted Zidane as saying.
Though Gareth Bale is out for around three-four weeks, one is not sure if Zidane will play his best XI or rest some senior players, and use his squad depth.
There is a serious need for their players to give it their all in the remainder of the season. Their finishing has come into question in recent matches. They need to get their A game going, and more importantly the offensive players have to deliver the goods.
"We're missing a lot of chances, but that's part of football. It's worrying if you're not creating chances. With the chances we have we need to kill off the matches and score more goals. We'll continue and try to rectify this," Zidane said.
Deportivo might be second favourite, and are also in 16th place, but they will use their win against Barcelona last month as inspiration when they face Real Madrid. They do have some good players like Florin Andone and Celso Borges, who could trouble the visitors.
Even if Deportivo manages to a point, it is going to be like victory for the home side, who will be well supported at Estadio Riazor.
Where to watch live
Deportivo La Coruna vs Real Madrid is scheduled for 9:30 pm local time, 1 am IST start, 8:30 pm BST start
Live TV and streaming information is below.
India TV: Ten 1 and Sony Six. Live Streaming: Sonyliv.
Spain: TV: Movistar+, Movistar Partidazo
UK: TV: Sky Sports 2/HD. Live Streaming: Sky Go.
USA, Australia, Canada: TV: Bein Sports. Live Streaming: Bein Sports Connect.
