By Boluwatife Ezekiel Olaleye
Real Madrid have stumbled in their La Liga title defence this season and currently sit eight points adrift of leaders and fierce rivals Barcelona.
Zidane’s men do, however, enter Wednesday’s clash against Al Jazira as the reigning Club World Cup champions and favourites to defend the crown, and the tactician is expecting a fully-focused Los Blancos squad.
“It will not be easy and last year we had a lot of problems before we managed to win it,” Zidane said.
“There will not be easy games and for just being Real Madrid we are not going to win.
“We have time to prepare for the game and there are no excuses.
“This is the calendar and whoever we face we need to look at doing what we have to do well.
“It is normal that during the season you have ups and downs but what we have done so far is very positive. We have won two titles and we are trying to win a third.
“After this, we will have six months to fight for La Liga, the Champions League and the cup [Copa del Rey].”