Zinedine Zidane Admits Real Madrid Are Lacking a No.9 With Ronaldo & Benzema Unavailable

Real Madrid had a quiet transfer window in comparison to the huge spending throughout the summer and after already having dropped four points this season, Zinedine Zidane has admitted that he would have liked another striker in his squad, but that it wasn't possible.

A major concern for the Madrid manager has been the number of chances that have been missed with Karim Benzema out due to injury and Cristiano Ronaldo banned for pushing referee

Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea versus Barcelona in the first leg of the Supercopa. 

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All of this speculation has led some to wonder if it was wise to let Alvaro Morata and Mariano leave in the summer after missing Ronaldo and Benzema's ability in front of goal due to their unavailability.

In a Press Conference on Tuesday, Zinedine Zidane addressed the issue, as reported by Marca:

"It's true that when you look at the players you had, like [Alvaro] Morata and Mariano, and when you see that now you only have [Borja] Mayoral that you might think we lack a No.9...

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"I would have liked Morata to stay, but he wanted to play more and to leave.

"It wasn't possible to sign another player, but I really believe in Mayoral, as he is hungry.

As for Zidane's willingness to rotate, he insisted that he would continue to do so, even if a rotated side dropped points to Levante last weekend.

"With this squad, we can do a lot of things," he said.

The loss of four points was also explicitly addressed, but Zidane pointed to the series of draws suffered last September, while he also looked ahead to this fresh start in the Champions League.

"The same thing happened last year, we're not worried," the coach said.

"We're not pleased with these results, but this is football.

That match against Apoel Nicosia kicks off at 19:45 GMT on Wednesday night at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu with Zidane in need of a victory.