Real Madrid coach Zidane happy after Clasico draw

FC Barcelona coach Luis Enrique made no apologies for his debatable decisions as his Real Madrid counterpart Zinedine Zidane emerged happier of the two after a 1-1 draw in "El Clasico" La Liga derby football match

A 90th minute goal from Real Madrid's Sergio Ramos cancelled out Luis Suarez's opening goal for FC Barcelona to ensure honours were shared at the Camp Nou stadium here on Saturday, reports Xinhua.

The draw meant Madrid (34 points from 14 matches) maintained their six-point lead at the top from Barcelona (28).

Barcelona looked on course for a win which would have taken them to within three points of Madrid, but the late goal spoiled their plans.

"I'm not sorry about any of the decisions I made in the game," said the Barcelona coach who made some debatable substitutions during the match.

"If the game had ended in the 89th minute nobody would ask me about them."

He was however, unhappy with his team's defending which allowed Ramos to score from a Luka Modric free-kick after a needless foul.

"It's easy to give orders from the dugout, but it's the players who have to do the defending in these situations," he said, while also lamenting chances missed by Leo Messi and Neymar which could have settled the game long before Ramos' equaliser.

"We had victory in our hands and could have killed it off. We deserved to win, but it wasn't to be," he commented.

Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane refused to say if the result was fair or not, "it is what it is and we won another point".

He insisted the six-point lead meant little at this stage of the season. "We have to keep on working," he commented, before highlighting the performance of Luka Modric in the Madrid midfield and the tactical flexibility shown by his players.

"We have a lot of different players who can come in and do different things when we change the shape of the side," concluded Zidane.

--IANS

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