Zinedine Zidane said in April Real Madrid would prioritise La Liga over the Champions League this season and their defeat to Real Mallorca on Saturday suggests they may not have the squad to go far in both. “For us next year, the league must be our number one priority,” Zidane said.
“It’s the longest competition, it’s the one that cannot be missed, and I’m going to put that in the heads of my players.” Yet Zidane made several changes ahead of today’s Group A game away at Galatasaray and those who came in failed to impressed, with a blunt performance against Mallorca revealing familiar failings up front and causing Madrid to slip to their first league defeat of the campaign. Some of the adjustments were enforced as Eden Hazard was absent following the birth of his fourth child on Friday while Toni Kroos, Luka Modric and Gareth Bale were all nursing injuries of varying severity.
