Zinedine Zidane believes that Real Madrid were rightly awarded a penalty

The referee pointed to the spot when Marc Bartra was declared to have handled the ball in the box.

The VAR reviewed a penalty

Zinedine Zidane believes that Real Madrid were rightly awarded a penalty in the final stages of their victory over Real Betis. The referee pointed to the spot when Marc Bartra was declared to have handled the ball in the box. “There is a referee, and they reviewed it,” Zidane said at full time. “I think what happened is fair. The referee is the one in charge. I never contact the referees, and I’m not going to today. The most important thing is that we played the match. We gave everything. It was a hard game against a team that won two games. We are happy, satisfied with the work done. We suffered and got three points.” Thibaut Courtois played a crucial role in helping Los Blancos stay in the game throughout. “He was decisive, as in many games recently,” added Zidane.

“Real Sociedad also had a lot of chances last weekend, and Courtois saved us. Today it happened again. We know what Thibaut can do, and I also like what he does with the ball-playing from the back. I’m happy with his performance and how things went for the team”. Zidane made the unexpected decision to start Luka Jovic upfront alongside Karim Benzema. “I was looking to perform in the opposition half with a different scheme,” the Real Madrid boss explained. “We can play in different ways, and that is one of them, with two attackers. We can be happy with the game, with three points.” In terms of possible transfer activity until the October 5 deadline, Zidane remained coy over the Real Madrid business. “I am satisfied with the line-up that I have,” he said. “We are what we’re going to try to have a good season.”