Zidane: "It's special and thrilling to win games in the final minutes"

Following the crucial victory over Valencia, Zidane was full of praise for his players as he spoke to the press at the Santiago Bernabéu: “I'm pleased with everyone's performance. Valencia kept playing their game and we couldn't find the second goal to kill the game off. We're going to have to dig in until the end. We weren't clinical enough right from the start, perhaps we're a bit anxious or tense but we didn't let it get the better of us, we played our game and did a good job".

"If you don't finish the game off, you're going to struggle. We managed to do it in La Coruña. Today we had chances to close the game out earlier so that's something we can still improve on. It's true that we had half an hour when we slipped into our comfort zone, but that changed after the Valencia goal".

The fans
"The fans got behind us again after we conceded the goal and helped to drive the players on and there was a different feel to it. We know the stats about our goals in the final minutes, that's what makes football such a beautiful game and you can't spend too much time analysing things. I can't explain the reason for it. It's special to win it in the last ten minutes, it's thrilling”.
 
James
“He played very well and did the job asked of him, as they all did. I'm very happy with his performance, and with the performance of the team as a whole. It's true that if you don't get that second goal things can become difficult, and that was the case a bit today. But at 1-1, with the help of the fans, we got the second goal and we're happy”.
 
Marcelo and Carvajal
“I've got the best full-backs in the world. They did their defensive work and today they were even more influential than usual going forward. That's a big plus for the team. They're key players, but then so are all the players I have here, they're the best in the world”.