Zidane full of praise for Roma

The Frenchman, a Champions League winner during his time as a player with Madrid, admitted the Italian side put his players under serious pressure during the first half – something he fully expected.

“We played well and ran into some difficulties considering Roma’s performance but that was only normal,” claimed Zidane. "It's true that in the first-half they could have scored but that is normal in a Champions League game against a difficult opponent who had to come out and play. [Roma] played very well tonight.

“The crowd is demanding at the Bernabeu but the players know that. Perhaps it’s true we allowed too much at the back but I had said it would be normal considering Roma have great players and were coming off seven consecutive Serie A victories. They have a lot of quality in attack so we struggled but things worked out. I think that we played well despite struggling at the start of the match. We ran some risks in defence but that was only to be expected.”

Asked about the standing ovation that the Bernabeu crowd gave Francesco Totti when he came on, Zidane commented: “I was happy that Totti got to play and was applauded by the Real Madrid fans too.”