Players had a great game, says Zidane despite goalless draw against Athletic Bilbao

Despite witnessing a goalless draw against Athletic Bilbao on Monday, Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane said the players had a great game.

This is the second consecutive goalless draw for Real Madrid, the first was against Barcelona.

"The players had a great game again, but the goal just didn't come. In football you have to score, we had three or four chances in the first half where if you score, the match would have been different," the club's official website quoted Zidane as saying.

"This is football and these things happen. That's two matches without scoring, but we have to stay calm because the work has been done fantastically again today," he added.

Zidane said his players deserved more as they gave more than 100 per cent in the match.

"I come away feeling upset for my players because they deserved more today. Putting in a performance like we did, I would have liked us to have scored a goal for them. It wasn't possible, but the important thing is that we always give 100 per cent and I think we gave more than 100 per cent again today. We didn't get the goal, but I can't blame my players for that," he said.